Once Christmas was wrapped up in Kentucky, we woke up the next morning before the sun rose and jumped on a plane to kept the party going in Connecticut. Within hours we were at Nana Banana and Sport's house with all of the cousins enjoying a second Christmas dinner.
And of course, it was not just a second round of good food. It was a second round of presents. So as you can imagine, the girls had no problem adjusting to the travel fatigue since it meant more packages to open.
Aunt Suzy and Aunt Katie seem to always spoil Callie and Reese at Christmastime, and we have no problem with that. Especially when Aunt Suzy showcases her sewing talents by making the girls their own superhero capes with initials and everything. We'll be honest, we were a little sad that there wasn't a package with adult-sized capes with a J and an S. Maybe next year.
Suzy wasn't the only one to showcase her talent. Nana Banana presented Reese with her edition of the Christmas family heirloom. If you can't tell what it is from the picture, it is a felt ornament of Reese in her mouse costume from Halloween 2012. Nana Banana made one for Callie several years ago, and of course there are the original three of Katie, Suzy, and John that annually vie for top of the tree at the Bowes household. We hope the girls keep up the tradition as well. As you can see here, Reese made sure to inspect the ornament closely to ensure it had the quality to last for years to come.
Everyone says that you should spend your holidays with friends and family. We certainly believe that both groups of people are critically important. So even as we made time for family we made sure to spend time with great friends as well. In fact, truth be told, in the seven nights we were in CT we went out for three adult only dinners. We were impressed with how much time we generously gave our family alone with our girls. In any case, pictured here are John and his childhood friend Jason, who we see far too infrequently. It was great to catch up with Jason and his wife Michelle. However, as we always say, it is never enough time.
Meanwhile, as John and Jason were sampling some good bourbon, the girls had a fun night at Nana Banana and Sport's house with Aunt Suzy, Uncle Brian, and Zoey. It is very sweet how much they enjoy hanging out with Zoey. It's funny, they take a lot of pride in being the older cousins. Of course, as the years go by these three girls are going to have loads of fun together. We can't wait!
Some of the best times, though, are when everyone is just hanging out at the house. Suzy and Brian made sure to come over bright and early many mornings and we made sure to stay in our pajamas extra late. Katie and Chris were wonderful hosts as they did everything they could to make us feel right at home. And we had no problem helping ourselves to everything and anything in the house.
Fortunately the weather cooperated to the extent that we were able to make some trips to the beach to get some fresh ocean air and a little exercise on the playground. We do have to remind our children that it is not normal for a kid to see both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean on a yearly basis. And even more unusual is the fact that we have often found swing sets right on the beaches we visit on both coasts.
It was definitely a little windy down at the Surf Club, but it was sunny and we had a lot of fun.
It never gets old taking the girls to places that were such big parts of our childhood. John is just thankful that the Surf Club has long since replaced the playground that he and his co-workers installed back in the summers of 1993 and 1994. That was not exactly "safe" or "inspected by experts".
The next order of business in the Christmas schedule of events was the always highly anticipated family meal with Uncle Tommy and Aunt Terry. It is amazing to think how big the table has gotten over the years we have been doing this. In fact, if memory serves correctly, these holiday gatherings began before the thirteen-year-old boy to the left was even born. Therefore, the table seating has gone from nine to fifteen. It's gotten a bit louder and even more fun.
And then there is the kid to the right, who is now sixteen and looking at colleges. And while he still looks like he could pass for sixteen, we are not talking about Chris. Instead we are talking about Mike, who remains an incredible cousin to the three young girls who demand his attention whenever he walks in the room. It's pretty impressive to watch him be so cool yet so engaged and playful with his cousins. We are very fortunate.
Since our family has grown so much, holidays have gotten a bit trickier. Not only do we alternate west and east coast holidays, but when we come east we alternate the family we stay with during the visit. So while at Christmas we get a ton of time with the Balestracci clan, we don't get as much casual time over at Green Hill Road with Nana Banana and Sport. So we try and pack as much in as possible in the moments we do have together. And at the family meal we also get to play musical chairs to move around and chat with as many people as possible.
Sarah loves to take pictures and every once and a while gets a great shot. We think you all would agree that this shot of Suzy and Zoey is pretty darn good. Many times Zoey is so overwhelmed and potentially in a state of shock when the whole family is together that her beautiful smile is held in reserve. No problem here, that's for sure. She is a very cute little girl.
And then we have Sport with his three granddaughters. It would be difficult to find a happier person than him in that moment in time. These are the grandkids that live farther away, so to have all three of them on his lap at once is special to say the least. And you can see from their faces that the feeling is mutual. We especially enjoy Zoey's casual look and demeanor. When people say, act like you have been there before, this is exactly what they mean.
And we cap it all off with a momentous picture. It is momentous not because we have the whole family in it or that it happened. It is momentous because the person taking the picture had the good sense to stand back and not make people crouch. Nor do we have anyone standing closer to the camera than anyone else and looking disproportionately large. You think we are joking. Take a few moments and look back at the posts from previous Christmas meals with Tommy and Terry. Christmas 2011 is particularly special with what we like to call Giant Tommy.
Believe it or not, this was only the first three days of the trip. We still had a couple of big events to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment