Ellerman Christmas, 09: Part 2

Day 2 was Christmas Eve, and we were getting into the festive spirit. It’s Cole. No, it’s a reindeer!

It was raining outside, and anyone with little kids knows the rain is your enemy, so we went to a place Grammy found to do a little bouncing and sliding.

We’d slide.

 Hop off and run to the stairs.

 

Where Uncle Ken would help us do it all over again.

 All this sliding will wear a person out, so we headed back home for a nap.

 

Our two boys aren’t fans of spending lots of time indoors, so off we went for a walk down to the pier in Grammy and Grampie’s neighborhood. 

 At some point Grady got smart and realized he could demand to be carried. 

One thing you can count on during an Ellerman family get together is a fun night of game playing. So after babies went to bed, I narrowly dodged playing Scrabble [phew!] and we played SKAT. This was a new game to most of us, but G & G gave us a quick tutorial. Post-tutorial Grammy put her game face on and passed out coins.

We played.

Shuffled, and repeated.

Sometimes we knocked [part of the game, and yes, I do look a little crazy here, that’s how I intimidate my opponents].

 And took a break to let Angela open her birthday card as we sang to her and devoured the ice cream birthday cake. She’s a Christmas Eve baby! Happy birthday Angela.

And a few more rounds of SKAT later, Grammy got SKAT! She’s a mean card game player. 

More tomorrow about our Christmas Day!

Ellerman Christmas, 09: Part 1

I'm taking a break from unpacking, laundering and figuring out where in this small house I can fit all of our new gifts to tell you a little bit about our Christmas. It was a good one, with so many things to remember. I'm breaking it down vacation-style and will tell you a little bit about each day over the next week. I thought about cramming it into one post, but I'd hate for little details to get lost that way. And, I'm tired and this is less work right now.


Wednesday we got up, ate some pancakes and hit the road southbound. We're never really sure what to expect from the boys during long trips. We've had good trips, great trips, and some brutal ones. This one was not too bad. We stopped a few times to stretch legs and eat, and made it to Grammmy and Grampie's house by early afternoon.

And look! G & G also have a tree! YOOK! YIGHTS! We took in their tree, then we left Grampie at home while we went to a local park.

Fast forward a few hours when our boys are in bed, and Aunt Angela, Uncle Ken and Cousin Evan arrive. Evan gets put to bed, and the four new-ish parents head to Pensacola's McGuire's Irish Pub to catch up & enjoy some beer. 

 

 

Here I got a little fancy and was playing around with the camera & no flash. See how nicely I captured the guy texting behind Keith? 

 

Thanks for babysitting, G & G!

That wraps up Day 1. More from me tomorrow. 

Finally.

Keith and I are done with work for the week, we're close to done with the packing [totally a lie, we've only piled the clothes onto the dining room table], and the house is decently clean. Time to relax and enjoy a little family time. We head south early in the morning.


As I was searching for a Christmassy picture you've not yet seen, I found this! My three boys, one year ago.

And this year. You can barely see Cole's face because he's standing next to me and pointing, and that's what makes it perfect to me. Pointing. It's what he does. And Grady? Grady sits on my hip. That's what he does. My arms are wicked strong.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Merry Christmas

I logged on to tell you about our weekend, but the computer is not cooperating. So instead of a long rambling email about what we did, here are a few pictures to tide you over. We were busy!

The Bestest Present Ever

Do you have an all-time favorite Christmas present? Something you got one year that you will forever remember? I do. Keith and I just sat though another disappointing ending to Survivor [will the person we root for ever win?], and soothed the loss by talking about our childhood Christmasses. From this discussion, I learned a very interesting thing: Keith experiences life as as being a constant, even experience. No real highs, no real lows. And apparently, no real stand-outs for Christmas presents. I on the other hand, have a vivid memory of getting the Crayola Caddy. You know the Caddy, right? I mean, who doesn't, right? A lovely yellow square, it's sides lined with crayons and paints, and the top with a crown of markers? Oh, how I lusted over the Crayola Caddy that year. In South Africa we have a store called OK. It's a Walmart-ish store [I think, I can't really remember], and I remember this particular year standing in the toy aisle at OK drooling over the Caddy while my mom shopped. I don't remember asking for it, or even talking about it, but somehow, when we opened gifts that year, there it was!! A Crayola Caddy of my own. Still not sure what I'm talking about? Click over to this person's blog, and scroll down. There's a delightfully fuzzy picture of a Crayola Caddy.


http://koolkittymusings.typepad.com/kool_kitty_musings/2007/04/children_of_the.html

I also remember Karen and my cousins Karla and Rudolf trying to play with it that Christmas Eve. Back off,  people, it's MY Caddy! And if you insist on playing with the Caddy, at least put the crayons back in color order. Light colors to dark colors, not any ole crazy order.



So it was a surprise to me that Keith didn't remember any toy as being a standout. I know for sure that Gran GG is a good advisor to Santa, and a good gift shopper herself, so I know he got good Christmas gifts. I think his lack of a favorite is just a reflection of his, and my, personalities. He's always even-keel, I tend to remember life as a series highs and lows. It does make me wonder what memories C&G will hold on to as they grow older. Will they remember me getting exasperated when they throw food [food I slaved over] from their high chairs - a low for me at least-, or splashing during bathtime and completely soaking Dada and the entire bathroom floor -a high for me, but I think Keith might disagree-? I do hope they remember the fun of playing with the ornaments on the tree [they're getting braver by the day], "helping" Dada put outside lights up, and singing Christmas songs to overcome temper tantrums. I suppose time will tell.


While we're on the topics of gifts and what time will tell....time will tell if Aunt Angela's & Gran GG's gifts survived the Grady & Cole chaihh test. What is this test, you ask? Well, you sit on the gift, of course. If it doesn't buckle and the box doesn't crumble, it's a CHAIH, and you can sit on it. See?