Once again this year, despite our best efforts, we ended up with three Christmas celebrations, spanning from December 19 through January 1. While the kids seem to really enjoy this, I think that the spread of celebrations this year was a bit wearying. As next year promises to expand to at least four separate Christmases, I’m wondering how, or even if, we can get this back under control!
Ah, well…let’s accentuate the positive!
We headed to Tennessee on December 18, two days after Jeff returned from Thailand and after Charlotte’s noon basketball game. Traveling with an infant always tacks on hours to a trip, and we arrived around 10:30 on Saturday evening.
Jeff’s brother and sister-in-law, Jason and Cindy, came up Sunday morning, and we celebrated Christmas for the first time. Charlotte and Elijah tore into their gifts with great excitement, while Jeremy made an effort on maybe one gift and ended up trying to crawl away from the whole thing! He was much more interested in the wrapping paper than in any of his gifts, but that’s par for the course with a nine-month-old!
There were Legos and Nerf guns (a common theme for ALL of the Christmases this year!) and fun baby toys and clothes. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law got Jeremy some really cute and warm things, which have come in really handy in our arctic Illinois temperatures! Jeremy also got a riding car, which he actually preferred to push instead of ride. The first time he tried that, it took off, and his little legs could hardly keep up! Then, he figured out how to control it and starting strolling about the room, until he hit something. I’m afraid that walking is in his near future!
Jeremy also got to meet Jason and Cindy’s dogs, Max and Mossimo, for the first time.
We followed up gift opening with a big Christmas meal and an afternoon playing some of the new games that Charlotte got from her grandparents. It was a good time!
On Monday, the older kids and I joined Jeff’s parents for a ride to nearby Jackson in hopes of watching Tangled. Jeff was suffering from the beginning stages of a massive sinus infection, so he opted to stay at the house with Jeremy. Well, Jeff’s parents dropped us off at the theater, where we bought tickets and popcorn and settled into our seats. Then, for the next 40 minutes, we listened…yes, listened…to previews and the beginning of the movie…three times. There was absolutely no picture, just an occasional flashing green screen.
After 40 minutes, a theater employee came and told us that due to the ever loving “technical difficulties,” Tangled would not be playing this afternoon. We were welcome to go to another movie or to get a refund. As the next round of movies wasn’t starting for at least another hour, and the only other family-friendly movie was Yogi Bear, the kids and I were out of luck.
So, instead of watching a movie, we went to the nearby Snappy Tomato restaurant and ordered a pizza. Then, we went and wandered around Lowe’s for awhile, since that was the only store within easy walking distance. After which, we headed back to the theater to wait for Jeff’s parents.
By this time, we were wishing we had just stayed at the house with Jeff and Jeremy. Yikes. This is the same theater that, in years past, didn’t have heat running when Jeff and I went to see a movie in December. Jeff also lost a pair of gloves here. We’re about done with this particular Jackson theater.
The rest of our visit was uneventful; we visited with Jeff’s aunt and her husband and Jeff’s uncle. We watched TV, played games, and tried to enjoy our visit, as Jeff got sicker and sicker…not a great way to end our trip!
But we did get this great picture of the grandparents and grandkids!
We headed back home on Tuesday morning, arriving nine hours after we set out. (The trip should take around seven hours.) Jeff headed to the doctor the next morning and got set up with some antibiotics, in an attempt to get better before Christmas!
And our first round of celebrating the season was in the books!
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