It's always hard to come back from Disney.
But, it's so much easier when you have a little more vacation to spend after the return.
And especially if that vacation includes Christmas just a few days away.
Huzbend did end up getting sick.
And, then, I got sick.
Boo.
Every holiday season we end up with, like, 100 cardboard boxes.
I'm not allowed to recycle them.
They usually sit in our basement for months afterwards.
The reason I'm not allowed to recycle them?
Why, cardboard armor creation of course!
Someone made himself a helmet.
You can't have Nerf sword fights without cardboard armor.
I guess?
The kids helped create cardboard bracers for themselves.
Katie's actually had a cardboard retractable blade that could move in and out of her bracer.
I have no idea how they accomplished that with a glue gun and cardboard.
Beside cardboard armor creation, Christmas Eve Day was spent decorating the gingerbread house.
Katie's actually had a cardboard retractable blade that could move in and out of her bracer.
I have no idea how they accomplished that with a glue gun and cardboard.
Beside cardboard armor creation, Christmas Eve Day was spent decorating the gingerbread house.
This year, it didn't seem like they ate as much of the candy as they usually do.
Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention.
Can you guess who's side of the house is who's?
The kids were super excited because it SNOWED on Christmas Eve!
The last time we saw a White Christmas here in the PNW was back in 2008.
We have the pictures to prove it!
She's a little bit bigger now.
But, she still gets excited about snow.
Mikey went out to enjoy the snow as well.
Their top priority for the evening was to create a snowperson.
Here is the final result of all their hard work.
Soon, the kids were nestled all snug in their beds.
Santa came!
He must've politely asked Ralph to move.
To begin Christmas day, after breakfast, of course, the kids opened the last day of their advent calendars.
This years version had a "door" for the 25th (most calendars don't).
It was a big chocolate Santa.
And after a little breakfast chocolate, it was on to opening presents.
The kids were just a tad excited.
My kids are not shy about showing how they feel about each and every present they open.
Here are a few examples:
I think in the picture below, Mikey was enthusiastically unwrapping something and was throwing the wrapping paper off and hit Katie in the face.
Thank you to all for the wonderful gifts!!!!
Pretty soon everything was unwrapped and it was play time.
Of course, Santa didn't forget Ralph.
We had a small bit of time before we had to skedaddle to go see "The Last Jedi".
Going to the movies on Xmas Day has kinda become a thing for us.
Mikey cracked open the Nintendo Switch and settled into some Mario.
In this version of the game, his hat can land on enemies and Mario can "possess" them.
All of them then have mustaches.
TyrannoMario-Rex.
Katie got in a quick read of the next volume of Lumberjanes.
When we got back from the movies, we took some time to play in the snow.
You never know how long it will last around here.
It was snowball fight time.
Kids vs. Huzbend.
At one point, they had him surrounded.
The boys went inside.
Katie wasn't done yet.
She really wanted to go sledding.
So, I suggested she try in our yard.
It wasn't happenin'.
So, we gave it up for a bad job and went inside.
After dinner, Huzbend and Katie broke out her new stop motion animation kit.....
....and Mikey continued where he left off earlier that day.
Playing with the Switch.
The days between Christmas and New Years were filled with sickness (most of us had a cold at some point) and enjoying the new Christmas goodies.
Ralph enjoyed the snow while it lasted.
The snowperson slllllloooooooowly began to melt.
It just wouldn't give in and fall over.
It was almost horizontal at one point.
Huzbend and Mikey were sucked into Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,
and Katie soon filed suit.
They had to set a timer so everyone had an equal amount of play time during the day.
At one point, all of us were feeling pretty good and decided to head out for some fresh air and a hike.
As you can see, the snow was completely gone by this point.
It was good to get out and expend a little energy.
The kids were in rare form.
Oh, and Ralph came too.
Finally, the snowperson succumbed to the warmth and melted.
This was all that was left.
It seems that the kids were rolling their snow balls over in the gravel area of the yard.
It was New Years Eve.
As our treat this year, we broke out some fondue.
I'd picked up some melting chocolate and we cut up various things to dip in it.
Strawberries, bananas, marshmallows and the leftovers of those chocolate mini-muffins Katie had for breakfast when we were at Disneyland.
You can tell when the kids like something a lot.
It gets really quiet.
It's one of the only times there is not a constant chatter going on.
Well, because of all that chocolate, the kids were super hyper.
Huzbend put them to work doing some "Daddy Olympics". He calls out various challenges that they then have to complete.
I'm guessing this one is "get across the room with your head touching the floor".
We celebrated "East Coast New Years" by watching a live stream of the Magic Kingdom fireworks.
After that, we watched "Homeward Bound" and waited for "West Coast New Years" to arrive.
The kids were crazy hyper by the time 11:30 or so rolled around.
Second wind, maybe?
They had their own New Years Rockin' Eve.
I can't even remember if they were dancing to music or just doing their own thing.
Happy New Year, Everyone!!!
