Christmas 2015

This week Christmas (finally) came.  I said "(finally)" because that is how it felt for my kids, but to me, I wonder where this year has gone.  In any case, we started the Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve with dinner at Ben and Becca's house.  Everyone was feeling low key this year so we decided on a fancy dinner of Papa John's pizza.  Honestly I think, at least on the part of the kids, is was one of the best received dinners we have done.

After dinner we played "Beanboozled", which for those of you who don't know, is a Jelly Belly game where there are two flavors that look identical but one will be a good flavor (say peach) and the other will be a gross flavor (say vomit).  The kids enjoyed this game more than the adults but surprising some adults did get into it.  Ben enjoyed making Nana taste as many flavors as possible and turns out Brendon not only likes the smell of skunk, but the taste as well.

Once we were all beaned out, we had the cousin gift exchange.  Carrigan got slippers (actually all three littlest cousins ended up with slippers) and Merrick got an Angry Birds Star Wars video game.  The other highlight was my parents opening our present, which was a blog book I had made with all their blog entries from their time in India.

We finished out the night with a saran wrap ball game for the adults.  No picture of the game itself...it was too intense, but I did remember to take a pic before the festivities began.  Inside the ball we had all kinds of goodies.  When it was your turn you got to try to unravel the ball with tongs in one hand and an oven mitt in the other hand until someone else rolled doubles and then it is their turn.  A few of us (not me of course) are really competitive so things got heated, but it was a blast.  We ended up getting home and to bed late so on Christmas morning everyone slept in.

At about 8am Christmas everyone roused enough to open presents.  Everyone got lots of great presents.  Merrick got Qixels and heelys and C.C. got a baby bed and doll house (among many other things).  The highlight of the morning for me though was not the presents but the interactions.  Both Merrick and Carrigan were so excited about each gift they opened and after they opened it would stop and give hugs to whoever gave them the gift.  It was really sweet to see.

The rest of the the day (and most the the next day for that matter) was all about playing with as many toys as possible.  The kids have had a blast, but my house has looked bombed out in a way it never has before.  I guess that is a sign that we have had a great Christmas.

Last night we capped off the weekend with a trip to Zoolights.  It was freezing, but clear and once we battled the crowds to get in, we had a really fun time.

Now I guess there is only one thing left to say...

Christmas in the Rain

If I had to use one word to describe the last month it would probably be "wet".  In fact I think it has rained at least some everyday for the last 20 days (and most of those days it has poured).  Yesterday it was supposed to be dry and so we decided to venture outside for some Christmas festivities.  We had wanted to go to the Christmas ships parade (the same one we went to last year), but due to the excessive rain as of late there was so much debris in the river that they had to cancel the parade.  Instead we went downtown to see all the ships docked in the marina but, unfortunately, as soon as we got onto the dock it started to pour.  We walked quickly passed all the ships and paused with the Santa that Jeremy described as "handsy" long enough to to snap a quick picture.  Eventually it got so bad that we took refuge in a nearby hotel to wait out the rain and once it stopped we went and walked around the mall to drive off.

After we all stopped dripping we headed back out for dinner at Killer Burger and then to Peacock Lane for one of the cities most elaborate light displays.  Again it started to rain, but this time only lightly.  Peacock Lane was fun, but as Jeremy put it "it would be really cool if you didn't have to deal with all the people".

As I type this it is once again pouring outside, but I am grateful for the tiny break we got yesterday that at least gave us the courage to brave going out.

Christmas is Coming and Reindeer Aren't the Only things Flying

I am still playing catch up for one more week so this week's blog is going to capture an array of events from seeing Santa and reindeer to cutting down and decorating our Christmas tree to indoor skydiving so buckle up and lets get started.

First stop, Santa.  There is local nursery in Lake Oswego that had a big Christmas event a week or so ago.  They had a reindeer petting zoo and visits with Santa.  I am not sure if this is something they do every year, but this is the first time we were aware of it.  I had heard about it on the radio and so when our neighbor across the street invited us to go with them I was really excited.  It is not everyday that you get to pet Prancer.  When we got there it was crowed, but not like you might expect.  After standing in line, when it was our turn both of my children chickened out and I was the only one who actually decided to pet the reindeer.  I was hoping that our visit with Santa would go better, but I was not confident given Carrigan's hesitance even when just talking about sitting on Santa's lap.  When it was our turn, C.C. very reluctantly sat as long as I stayed right there with my arm wrapped around her.  Unfortunately it was Merrick who did not really cooperate with a smile for the picture.  I am sure that the whole reason for the event was to get people to buy their Christmas trees there, but as the prices were astronomical,  we decided to wait.

We started the next day with a break from all the Christmas festivities and went to iFly for some indoor skydiving so Jeremy could redeem his birthday gift card.  I have to say that it was a really cool experience and I had a ton of fun just watching everyone.  I am pretty sure Jeremy enjoyed himself as well and Merrick left begging to get to go one day too.

After skydiving we went to get our (much more reasonable priced) Christmas tree.  We ended up with a 10ft Douglas fur and once we got it home and in the stand, Merrick was a big help in the decorating.  Since then there has been several times when my mom will point out a spot on the tree that somehow did not end up with any ornaments and I have to remind her about my big decorating helper.

Now we have one more week of school and Christmas is coming up fast.  Merrick tells me all the time that he wishes it was already Christmas, but I for one am enjoying all the festivities leading up to the big day.