Christmas, The Sequel

Guess who came to help us continue the Christmas celebration? Nonna and Poppy arrived for the a few days, and the celebrations began almost immediately!  Since the tree and most of our decorations were already down and put away, I was happy to pull out my mini-tree and some small ornaments, and keep the mantel alive with felted trees and candles. Nonna is probably the best present wrapper I know, and the gifts were far more decorative than the decor! And none of that really mattered to the kids, who were just so happy to have Nonna and Poppy arrive. (though I won't lie or gloss over the reality that the gifts were huge hits - not only because getting presents after the fact is exciting, but what was inside made each of us smile, and kept the kids playing, reading and shooting darts for any down time they had).

 After present openings, the kids each took the opportunity to grab a grandparent and settle in for some one on one time. Though I was an only child, I do have vague memories of what it felt like to jostle for attention when all the cousins were around, so despite the fact that it requires some finagling, I appreciate their delight in getting someones complete attention. Nonna bought Siena a beginning guitar book, and together they started strumming away. Sterling went straight for trying to beat Poppy in Monopoly Deal (I'm happy to report that Poppy smoked 'em). Sage flitted back and forth and around, all dressed up in her Christmas finest.

On Friday, Nonna joined the kids and I for our monthly nature walk. What fun to be out and about with good friends and a wonderful mother-in-law. Our hike took us high above a local lagoon, with the kids finding "crystals!" everywhere they looked. Can you tell the weather was amazing? We are so blessed here! After the hike and lunch, we headed over to their hotel and the kids spent the afternoon swimming in the pool, until the threat of turning into an actual prune prompted them to hit the hotel game room. One of the benefits of not having video games in the house is that they are always a home run when out and about. But I was pleased to see that what really got Sterling's attention didn't require a monitor - playing his first game of pool with Nonna and Poppy won the day. 

Friday night, Sterling had an early birthday dinner just with Nonna and Poppy, at a local place that serves great steak. He was in heaven (and Siena, though a bit jealous at missing out on a dinner out, was relieved to be able to avoid a place that served, yuck, meat. You can see where we are about with the vegetarian issue these days). Saturday morning the kids got one last swimming in, and then we had lunch out together at Soup Plantation. A buffet is probably the easiest place in the world to make nearly everyone happy at meal time. Being with loved grandparents? Well, I'll bet the kids would have eaten anything, anywhere. Almost.