Friends
There was some jetlag after Thailand. It was easy to get up in the morning, but not so easy to stay awake in the afternoon. The day after we got back, Daniel went to school all day – then he insisted that he be allowed to go buy some Bakugan with money from Farmor. He made it to the store and home, but then fell asleep on the bench in the laundry room before he even got his shoes off.
Once everyone caught up on their sleep, December got busy. There was an elaborate Christmas concert at the Presbyterian church that Grandma Babe invited us to. There were camels, and pageantry, and crafts and storytelling. The concert itself was promising, but with no naps, both Daniel and Rachel made it clear that they’d rather be somewhere else.
Rachel went skating for the first time (Daniel had been earlier), and she had a great time with that. Later, we all went roller skating, which was initially frustrating for the kids, but Daniel had enough fun with it that he persevered, and by the end of it, he could skate some on his own. So there was a follow-on trip with friends.
Rachel’s school had an end-of-semester program, and there were several nice songs. I have some video of the event and once I render and post it, you’ll see why I was able to brag that “my kid can sing faster than yours” to the other parents… She did great, though – and it’s clear that the preschool program is rewarding to her and that her teachers love her.
For the first time in 458 years, there was a full lunar eclipse on the solstice. And we were lucky enough to have a clear sky for the event. It was pretty amazing – the pictures don’t really do it justice, but we got the full red moon in the western sky, right above Orion. Very nice – we woke the kids up to see it, and while Rachel mumbled a bit and went back to sleep quickly, Daniel thought it was neat, and stayed up/out for long enough to see the gradual end of the eclipse.
We wandered over to the local store to pick up a Christmas tree, then carried it home and decorated it. Daniel helped Eric bake some of the traditional cookies from Norway/Sweden, and both kids got to decorate cookies over several days. The UPS and Fedex guys showed up on a regular basis delivering packages, and finally, it was almost Christmas.
Rachel picked out a remote controlled car for Daniel and Daniel picked out a battery-operated dog for Rachel. They were supposed to keep the gifts a secret, but they were so excited that they just couldn’t help but tell each other. Anida happened to catch the moment when Rachel found out she was getting the dog, and apparently she flopped onto her back and kicked her legs in the air while giggling like crazy.
When asked what they wanted to get Anida for Christmas, the suggestions ranged from “A box of Jell-O” to “a new ipod”, but eventually turned into making her some drawings. Eric got decorated underwear that is sure to result in some raised eyebrows if he ever gets into an accident while wearing it.
The night before Christmas, they each got to open one present each. Predictably, Daniel chose the Remote-controlled car, while Rachel opened the Dog from Daniel. When we put batteries in Daniel’s gift, it didn’t work at all, and he was pretty sad about that. However, a quick trip down to Radio Shack and it was exchanged for a slightly different model. Which also didn’t work… Until Eric tried a different set of batteries and discovered that it’d been the supposedly-new duracells that were to blame the whole time. Props to Daniel for dealing with the disappointment in a mature way.
And then later that day, Aunt Erin Steven and cousin Chloe came to town. Daniel and Rachel have had a lot of fun playing with Chloe, and are – as I type this – at the “Zoo lights” exhibit with her – which is why I’ve had time to post the blog updated.
We’ve had a fabulous 2010, and hope that all of you are well. Best wishes for 2011. I might get a video posting in before new years, but if not – Happy New Year.
(and yes, my resolution is to be more timely with the updates)
Love, ADRE.
No comments:
Post a Comment