The girls couldn't wait to use their baking skills in our new kitchen, especially if it meant baking for Santa. They are both comfortable enough around the oven that this was kid driven and kid executed. That's the best kind of activity.
Callie and Reese were ready for Santa's arrival, and finally by the time the day ended, so was the tree. We had managed to hide these two big boxes for a couple of weeks before Christmas. This challenge might be difficult for most families, but for a family like ours that seems to grow boxes in our basement, they just blended in with the rest of the craziness.
Our morning traditions always start with Santa's gifts, though, and the stockings are always a big hit. Reese likes to provide big expressions of joy, especially for items in the stocking that contain sugar. Santa certainly knows how to hit their sweet spots. Callie has adopted a more casual approach, but she is just as happy as Reese is about what is in that stocking.
These are the biggest gifts that the girls have ever received beside or under the tree, and they were eager to rip off the paper and find out exactly what was inside. We did instruct them to open them together so that they both could be surprised at the same time.
They were both surprised and delighted at their bean bags, and were ready to lounge in them all day long. They dragged them into the living room for some TV watching and up to their bedrooms for some reading. But they couldn't lounge all day because we had been invited to Christmas dinner over at Cissy and Kenny Leatherman's house to celebrate with them. Cissy is Chris Chrisman's sister, and we have the good fortune at this point to be considered honorary Chrismans, so we got to enjoy a wonderful meal and fantastic company to celebrate the holiday. Unfortunately we had to leave early because we had an early flight the next morning.
But when you have people like this waiting for you at the end of the journey, the early morning travel is worth it. Our family has become accustomed to action packed holiday celebrations, so the girls didn't blink an eye when we continued the Christmas revelry the next day with the Bowes, Balestracci and Hannen clans.
Getting all the families together is such a joy, but there is a special place in the girls' hearts for the Colorado crew because they bring their closest aged cousin Zoey. And the attention that Brian and Suzy give Callie and Reese is pretty special too.
And when we are all gathered at Nana Banana and Sport's place, Reese and Zoey are able to spend time serenading us with their musical (non) talents. But perhaps what they really enjoy is playing the piano while the college graduation pictures of Katie, Suzy, and John look over them.
Reese and Zoey are a tad inseparable when they get together these days. Callie certainly enjoys playing with Zoey, but will transition into adult conversations so as not to compete with her sister's love fest. Cuteness abounds.
Just like two years ago we all made the pilgrimage up to Uncle Tommy and Aunt Terry's place in New York. Tommy and Terry welcomed us with open arms, lots of food, and a drink or two. There is no doubt that they know how to host a party. This time around we even turned it up a notch with their Alexa that churned out some quality songs from Neil Diamond and the Bee Gees.
It was bitterly cold outside when we were there, but the love inside kept us all warm. Corny, we know, but so very true. We are so lucky to have Tommy and Terry in our lives and these visits are a great opportunity to get us all together. It is also good to have the younger generation see how important our family is to us.
Speaking of people important to us, on the drive back from New York we worked in a quick visit with the McBeans in Fairfield. This was a special visit since Jason's parents were in town from Florida, so we got to spend a little time with Carl and Cynthia as well. For the girls, they got to hang out with Hayden making slime. Who knew that slime had such power to bring children together? Callie and Reese left asking us when we could visit the McBeans again, and we had the very same question.
A trip back to Madison always means a visit to RJ Julia, the best independent bookstore in the country. This winter in New England the holidays were a bit colder than normal, but fortunately even us southerners were prepared for it, boots and all.
It is kind of amazing how this group of five grandkids have gown over the years. Michael is in his junior year of college and Brendan is in his senior year of high school. Zoey just started kindergarten, Reese is in first, and Callie is in fourth grade. Time flies. But one of the great things is how good the older boys are to their young cousins and how much the little ones adore their two older cousins. They are a good bunch all around.
During our trips to Connecticut every night consisted of some kind of family gathering. But this year also included the Balestracci's Christmas party, which meant we got to meet and hang out with a lot of the Balestracci's friends. It was a fun night, and the girls ran around like they owned the house.
As we have already mentioned, it was cold, and it had been cold for a while. The good thing about that is it meant that Milano Pond was fully frozen and open for skating. The pond is right across the street from the Skonieczny's house, so when we visited them we got to join in the fun. But since we didn't have ice skates we had to be pulled around the ice. Sarah was the first taker, which meant that she could have the fun and then head inside to warm up.
The rest of the Bowes crew toughed it out. Callie went for a ride with Ella pulling and Kristen pushing. Reese actually put on some skates and tried her skills out with Kristen's guidance. And John stood there with Mike and watched their kids play together. It does not get much better than that.
We rang in the new year at the Skonieczny's house, which was a lot of fun. This picture was produced during our picture scavenger hunt where we broke into three teams and had to use our creativity with a list of action shots required. This was loads of fun, and a great way to show the kids how awesome their parents are. Here's to a rockin' 2018!
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