A February Christmas Wrap-Up

With one thing or another I never did get around to sharing any of our Christmas shenanigans after the New Year. Well for the most part they were pretty much what we’ve come to expect and experience over the last several years – 4+ different days of Christmas dinners, family time, gift giving, game playing, catching up and having fun. As I’ve mentioned in previous years, as our extended families have grown larger and spread further afield, our Christmas celebrations have become larger, longer affairs that simply can’t be accomplished in one day. So here’s a brief breakdown of all this years celebrations’ parts… 

Part 1 – Heli Dad’s Family

This year Heli Dad’s Lil’ Sis and Mech Man hosted Christmas at her house and so we were able to enjoy this particular day of celebration with no travel. (Which was nice in and of itself, and saved us a couple hundred bucks.) Pic Sis and G-Man travelled down to us this year with their kiddos, so the cousins had a day of play together while the rest of us caught up with each other’s lives. With a full on (and slightly mashed up) Christmas feast which included roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, and baked macaroni and cheese, we ate well and followed up our overindulgence with gift opening, video games, leg wrestling and then cards and dice. Mix in a few drinks and needless to say that we all had a very good time!!

 

Part 2 – Christmas Eve

As happens every year, my immediate family (those in town anyways) gathered for pizza, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on DVD, and the opening of our Christmas PJ’s. Once again Heli Dad and I held this quiet evening at our house and were joined by Grandma, Grandpa, Little Sister and Boyfriend. Later in the evening Lil’ Sis and Mech Man made a pit stop at the house to wish everyone a happy holidays and to have a Christmas drink with Heli Dad and I. 

Part 3 – Christmas Day at The Farm

After opening up some presents at home, we trekked out to The Farm for Christmas Day family time and fun. The kids received a Singing Machine Karaoke System (just like this one here > http://amzn.to/1ozopg4) that had to be opened up immediately for everyone’s entertainment. Apparently after the kids all purchased their own CD Player Boomboxes (similar to this one > http://amzn.to/1QAJq6S) in the fall, Santa felt like a karaoke machine was something that they would LOVE… And they did. In fact, Heli Dad and I are serenaded with karaoke performances weekly still. 

Surprisingly the shenanigans were kept pretty simple on Christmas Day. Probably the funniest thing to occur that day was when Little Sister (with Boyfriend), B-Boy, VanDani and her main man, decided that sledding at 9pm, in the dark, when it’s about -25C. First Little Sister and the cousins recreated a winter photo from their youth, and then the five of them managed to break the sled when they (sort of but not really) ran into a tree, or bush, or something. No one was injured during this event, except for the sled, and everyone warmed up quickly afterward with a couple stiff drinks.

Part 4 – Full Family Christmas at The Farm

Once Big Sister, Bro and their girls made it down, we all headed back out to The Farm for more good food, more drinks, more games, more presents and more fun. Heli Dad and I took the opportunity to spoil HG and Genie with gifts they didn’t really need, and that their parents would probably hate us for (how is that mini-electric piano for the 3 year old working out, I wonder?) and the cousins got to play, play, play. Of course my generation of siblings and cousins played and partied all night and the last of us finally stumbled, fell and slipped into bed around 6am after a night of board and card games, ping pong tourneys, and Catch Phrase challenges.

Part 5 – Friend Time During Christmas and New Years

We had a couple nights over the holidays this year when we had some grown up slumber parties at our house with some friends of Heli Dad’s and mine. We pulled out some board games and some cards and played, while the kids entertained themselves with the karaoke machine and other toys.

 

After two weeks of Christmas revelry and celebration, the kids went back to school and Heli Dad and I started trying to recuperate. We also started searching for some new additions to our home and family, as we decided at Christmas that our main gift to the kids would be a couple new pets. We finally lucked out, just days after the recent family deaths, and welcomed the kittens Sphinx and Jude to the Corner Table Family.

So there’s the wrap up.  I hope your holidays were as fun and full as ours. And that you had a blessed and merry time with your family and friends.