december 30th - the party begins (289)

We had a quiet day, other than listening to Daddy work on the bathroom. The floor is just about done with all of the wet saw cuts finished up and put in place. It was so cold outside that the wipe down rag was freezing in between cuts. The Dreby clan arrived this evening in time for dinner. We made some strombolis (very unorthodox method) and stuffed ourselves pretty well. The kids were all really excited to be together. Let the fun begin!

december 29th - pull the trigger (288)

Since we are not tied down this week to any plans besides chilling out, Daddy is renovating the half bathroom. Today started with laying the random floor tiles, that are not so random;).  It took a little demolition and some prep work, but not too bad before getting to start the fun part of putting it back together. 

december 28th - lake bound (287)

Somehow, Mommy could foresee getting this much stuff into our car was an impossibility, so she made a solid purchase of a roof bag to expand our towing capacity. All packed, strapped, tied and ready to roll...we may have to stop at a weigh station along the way. Gemma and Lucy finally got to lay their eyes on their new bunk bed, which was pretty special. Alex got to try out his new binoculars, and Mommy got to lace up her new slippers. Ahhh, lake life, how we’ve missed you. Looking forward to spending the week getting reacquainted. 

december 27th - sniper gemma (286)

Alex, Gemma, and Daddy invented a great game to see who was the best shot with Alex’s new nerf gun. Gemma’s technique was a little unorthodox, but she managed to squeeze off a few direct hits. The kids got to FaceTime with Grandmom Burger to open up the gifts she dropped off for them. The fun continues!

december 26th - too early? (285)

We can still smell Santa’s aftershave in our living room, but Mommy is already prepared to throw the tree out the back door. We cut it up into pieces and had a pretty good fire in the backyard. Crazy to see how quickly it sparked up...what a fire hazard. Alex and Daddy built his Midnight Pumpkin RC car today. We are missing a part, so we couldn’t get the full road test, but it is just about ready to go. Gemma is rockin’ all of her new dress up gear. 

december 25th - did he come? (284)

Santa pushed through coronavirus and made a visit to Walnut Lane. The kids were very anxious and did not like Daddy slowing them down from being able to go downstairs to see what was under the tree. Alex got his skateboard, Gemma got her LOL house, and Lucy was doubly excited to see that Santa left her “real jewelry and a jewelry box.”  So many cool gifts were opened...Lucy was a fan of opening her stocking gifts and left a nice mess in her wake. Mommy and Gemma both got green boxes from Daddy. Gem got her very first diamond necklace and she was very proud that she is officially comparing jewels with Mommy...“As I get bigger the diamonds get bigger too, right?”  Alex was really excited to give Mommy her present that was handcrafted. 

Off to Beeps and Grandpa’s for the rest of the day for more celebration and gift exchanging. We ended up having too many snacks and way too much alcohol so we nixed brunch this year. Gemma got to give Beeps her very own green box to open, which pleased her greatly. Nowhere else to go this evening so we just had a marathon of a day opening presents, putting a dent in the wine, napping, and sticking around for dinner, and drinking more wine. Mommy eventually had to take a breather on the floor. Christmas!

december 24th - joy (283)

Tonight is the night and the magic is in the air. The kids woke up this morning and are already ready to go back to bed so they can wake up on Christmas. We FINALLY watched Polar Express after weeks of Daddy trying to push it on everyone. After breakfast, we went to spread a little joy to Uncle Mike, who is pretty much locked in at his place. Lucy and Gemma both dressed up for the occasion to make sure there was no mistake that they were the Christmas patrol. Fresh calamari (Alex’s favorite) and tuna steaks for dinner made the fact that we couldn’t go out for a meal much better. The kids checked in on virtual Christmas service for the “good parts and the candles.”  Mommy was ahead of the game, so we were all in bed pretty early so Santa could come and take care of his business.