The kids were sleeping in a room downstairs and Todd and I were upstairs. We told them that when it was light outside their window, they could come upstairs and get us. Well, "light" outside the window turned out to be a street light and they were all in bed with us by 545am. We dozed for awhile trying to catch some extra sleep and ended up not actually getting up until around 7. That's a win as far as I'm concerned!
Pixie left the kids fun art books to do in the morning while the adults got coffee going. I actually gave them a mini breakfast in bed to make sure we didn't have any meltdowns waiting for everyone to get up for real breakfast. That may become a tradition - total win.
We brought the kids downstairs and the first thing they did was check out the stockings and to see if Santa, the reindeer and Santa Mouse ate the snacks we left them. They were so pumped that the food was eaten!! As a bonus, Santa left a note. Lia was able to easily read it and that was a really cool thing to see.
Growing up, we always got to open one gift before breakfast. While I loved this tradition, I never knew which one to pick! Todd's family would have their stockings hanging on their doorknob for the kids to find in the morning as their thing to open first. So, we opted to combine and have the stockings on the mantle, but let the kids open those first. I really like this because there are lots of little things for the kids to do and it keeps them super happy while we are cooking breakfast.
If you watch the video above all the way to the end, at the very last moment you hear Lia gasp and then start yelling something that starts with a J. I'm so sad Todd stopped the video right at that moment!! It was hilarious. Back story: all the rage in first grade right now is this girl named Jojo Siwa (think this generation's Brittney Spears) and she sings and wears ridiculously big bows on her head. Not surprisingly, they sell these bows at every store in town. I have always hated huge bows on my kids' heads - just not my thing, but I gave in and put one in each of their stockings. Well, Lia FREAKED out. She screamed "JOJO BOW!!!!! I GOT A JOJO BOW!" It was by far her biggest reaction of the day. Over a bow. ha. Simple joys.
The rest of the fam got up pretty soon after that explosion (oops...) and we were off to the races!
The kids were delighted that Santa remembered what they asked for and were super excited about the rest of the things we chose for them. One of my favorite things about Christmas Day is the quiet play that ensues after the choas of opening gifts. When everyone is happily exploring their new things and engaging in new types of play with each other. We got a ton of games this year for the girls because they are finally old enough to sit and play them together without a ton of adult help. Yay for reading!!! Amy and Stephen gave the kids their gifts on Christmas Eve so they could have more time to play, so some of these pictures are from then. :)
I have no pictures of this moment, but I got Todd a whoopie cushion for his stocking. When the kids realized what this was, they were doubled over in giggles. I showed them how to hide it under things and then invite people to sit down. Lia did this with Todd and the degree of laughter that ensued from Lia was just so fun. She thought the "tootie" was the funniest thing ever. All afternoon, we heard toot after toot followed by giant laughter from all three girls.
We wrapped up our Christmas experience with a few required pictures!
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| Halle took this picture - future photographer?? :) |
Somehow (even though we took over a thousand pictures of this trip), we neglected to get a picture of all 4 kids together. Silly.
After eating yummy BLTs for lunch (which were almost just BTs without a last minute trip to the store - thanks Stephen!), we noticed it WAS SNOWING!! OMG! A White Christmas!!!
There wasn't much, but I'll take it!! We bundled up and headed outside to enjoy a walk in the snow on Christmas Day in our pjs. Things don't get much better.
Most hilarious story from the day: the kids found a pile of snow and were making snowballs. Halle came over to us and whispered to Stephen "Hey Bob-o, move this way, I want to get my dad" so Stephen happily moved out of the way (and by extension closer to Halle) to allow her a free shot at Todd. I got my camera ready hoping for a great action shot.
Do you see that conniving look in her eye? Oh yes, after that sweet request, she off and nailed STEPHEN (not Todd) with the snowball!!
And then proceeded to run away as fast as possible. Giggling hysterically the entire way.
This is about when Stephen realized she didn't just miss Todd - she planned the whole thing.
And then realizing that he was just schooled by a 5 year old. haha!!
And then admiring Halle for her abilities.
After that it was all out war! I opted to protect my nice camera during this time! :)
The snow didn't stick and it actually didn't snow for very long at all, but I was so happy that we had snow falling on Christmas Day! How amazing!! What a memory.
Todd grabbed the iPad to Facetime with GG and Pop Pop to wish them a Merry Christmas. Erin was quick to join and wanted to show them the snow! She took over communication and it was so funny to watch.
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| I'm sure GG and Pop Pop were thrilled to see an all white screen when Face-timing with their grandchildren... |
After our walk, we realized that the snow tubing place we were hoping would open in the days before was set to open the following day, the 26th! Only complication? We were set to leave on the 26th with a flight out of Phoenix at 5:30pm. The snow place opened at 9am. We had to be out of the house by 11am. Was it possible? What about all the wet/muddy snow gear? What about timing? ? ? ? ? ? Lots and lots of brainstorming and planning followed with the kids gloriously occupied with their new toys.
We figured out that it was, indeed, possible. And, we were determined to pull it off! I'm not going to miss this opportunity - it was icing on the cake to an amazing trip.
The sucky part? We had to pack nearly everything Christmas Day night. Not ideal. "Here children, here are all these awesome new things!!! Now, give them back." They were sad and moody and annoyed. As any kid would be. Thankfully, Todd had the idea to take them out to do something fun - which was fantastic. They stumbled upon a old train car meant for playing (uh, cool!!) and found more elk walking in the woods!!
When the girls got back, they had a picnic dinner while watching Polar Express while we started the check out procedures for the house.
In retrospect, I wish we had planned for another day there. However, without the snow thing opening, I think we would have been leisurely in the evening and packed in the morning before leaving. So, meh. We made it work.
We busted out of the house right on time the next morning and were headed to play in the snow!!
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| I asked Michael to take a picture for us. He literally took one single photo with my phone. Most people take at least 2 or 3 so you can pick your favorite. Michael? Nope. One. So, here's the ONE picture I have - Todd is not smiling and Erin's not looking at the camera. Oh well. Proof we were here!! |
So, to go down the hill, first you have to climb the hill while dragging your tube. Lia was quick like a bunny up that hill, Erin did not want to be left behind so she muscled through it. Halle? Halle whined and complained and was super dramatic about it. Think fake falling, "losing" grip on her tube rope, etc etc etc. Anything she could think of to have mom or dad do it for her. She was pretty ticked when I required she do it herself.
Eventually she made it to the top all by herself and was quite proud of her achievement. It was good for her to know she was capable of doing it because I wasn't going to go up every time!!!
We figured out later that when the kids were going up on their own, Halle would be going slow enough that the people behind her would nudge her tube along the path for her (making it a ton easier to pull) - little stinker still had assistance! But hey, credit due to her for figuring out a way up that hill! :)
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| All ready to go!!! |
I went down with Halle once and she flew!! It was a little unnerving thinking she would pop right out of her tube, but it was all giggles afterward!
Once you get down, the only thing you want to do is go again! The kids were up and down, up and down for the next 2 hours. Amy and I were walking up to go down together and saw the kids flying down the mountain - I recognized the screams!! haha
Todd and I tried the big "adult" hill, but it was not as fun in my opinion. Still awesome, but I liked the other one best. I told the kids they weren't missing much. :)
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| Todd, Stephen and Michael on the big hill. |
We made it back to Pheonix in time for a meal and got to our gate early. The plane ride home was a little crazy at times with some insane turbulence. The girls (not knowing this was unusual) were completed unfazed. Miles? He thought it was absolutely hysterical. Every time we'd bump or your stomach would fall, he'd bust out laughing. Certainly helped cut the tension!!
It was an incredible trip full of tons of memories to last a lifetime. Everything I could have hoped for. And more. :)
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