Christmas day times two

Here is a second installment. We enjoyed so much Chrismtas this year that I'll have to split it into two volumes.

Christmas mornig, Santa gifts, stocking with oranges and change that hints at your age (shhh! don't tell!), and always presents enough to go around.

Everyone had a lot of help opening presents, and it was often hard to tell who was more excited, the receiver or the giver (of help, that is).

Not all wrapping jobs required opening help, or even opening at all.

Nap time. Oh joy.

Squid for snack! An odd tradition, but Curits makes a mean dish of tentacles and it's hard to pass up. This year we didn't even wait to up the presentation, we ate it straight from the stove.

Christmas dinner at the Carman's, where the younger set had us playing with bristle blocks (remember those?), cash registers, and doll houses. Christmas is about the kids, after all, even the bigger ones.

AND...we are fortunate enough to have two whole Christmas Days; Jon's family, two years in a row now, have had a second Christmas on the 26th just so that we can spread our fun out, instead of burning out. Day two of Christmas, for both years now, has been relaxing, quiet, and completely enjoyable.

Upon arrival we were treated to a reprise of Calvin and Opa's juice squeezing. Fun and delicious.

Cameras, cameras everywhere.

Calvin made gifts for everyone this year. Wine charms for the men in his life, and Christmas carolers and hand painted book bags for the women. It was a really fun process, and a huge hit come gift opening time.

Joy on Christmas is being cozy and warm with family.

I think the horse on strings was one of the favorite gifts of the day. Jon's mom found him at the Renaissance Festival in Holly and new he just had to join our family. He doesn't have a name yet, but is certain to be well loved.

In Jon's family shuffleboard is a holiday tradition. I love old traditions, especially ones that are so darn entertaining.

Our New Years trip to Harbor Springs will be next up in the series, and I'll try to get to that later today or tomorrow.

Christmas Eve

It seems a very long time since I last entered this site, and in truth it is, though not nearly as long as it feels. The Christmas season is always such a busy one, and for all the right reasons; it feels as though we've lived a lifetime in the past two weeks, and not once did I import pictures from the camera. Thankfully our memory card is good for upwards of 600 shots, but as time passed and pictures amassed, the job just looked more and more daunting until, finally, today I ran out of space on that behemoth and was forced to import so I could erase it.

Going through them, on the other hand, is still a massive job waiting to be tackled and I am doing in stages and uploading in installments. Installment the first, then, is Christmas Eve. I'll be back in a bit with the continuation, after I've sorted through the over 200 pictures that are Christmas alone.

Christmas Eve at Kerrytown. It was chilly, but not down right cold, and unfortunately not even thinking about snowing. Santa hats don't have quite the same affect without snow and cold.

Christmas Eve means waiting in a jovial line at Monahan's to pick up our Christmas Eve oysters and squid. Some people think that's strange. I make no further comment.

Christmas Eve also means lunch at Kosmo Deli with a side of seafood chowder from Monahan's.

Christmas Eve means a romp through the delightful little shops that call Kerrytown home. I think Found is my favorite—a collection of everything yesteryear, and sometimes yesterday.

And I still remember Christmas Eve nights spent with cousins, all of us eager with anticipation of the following days splendor. Half of us now coddle those same expectations in our own youngsters.

0 days: May your Christmas be merry and bright!

7AM has come, and so has Santa.

1 day: Twas the Night Before Christmas

2 days: all wrapped up

We've been wrapping slowly throughout the month (I'd had enough last minute wrapping marathons in the past to finally change my ways), and today we wrapped the final presents and curled the final bows. The key word here, of course, is "we," and many of this year's packages don't quite have the same polished look that I've given them in the past, but I can say that the wrapping job has been way more fun. Calvin usually mans the tape dispenser (some of our packages have tape in very odd places), and is also the reigning voice on artistic choices, like ribbon colors and tag options. It has been an exercise, not so much in patience, but in my ability to give up artistic control to the whimsical fancy of a three year old. Hard to believe I'm talking about wrapping paper and cheap ribbon, eh? In any case, this shopping season is all wrapped up.