While I certainly don't want to overplay the Santa concept, I did continue the tradition that I had as a child where Santa brings an unwrapped gift and leaves it on Christmas morning. When I was a kid, we opened all our presents before Christmas day - usually on December 23rd, since Christmas Eve was my mom's family's celebration and Christmas Day was my dad's family's celebration. So it was very easy to know what was from Santa - it was the only present on Christmas Day. This year William didn't open up any presents until Christmas morning. The point being, he wasn't entirely sure that the three new sleds under the tree were or were not for him, and were or were not from Santa. We said they were all for him but that Santa brought him three so he could share with us. The idea of threes turned into a theme for this Christmas. Daddy bought William three Nerf blasters (one a Star Wars Stormtrooper themed one), so we could all play. And between the grandparents and us, he got three small Star Wars Lego sets. He also ended up with three board games (Monopoly Jr, Connect 4, and Battleship) - all of which have been tremendously fun to play! On Christmas Eve we didn't get around to unwrapping any gifts because we were busy with crafts. First up was Star Wars snowflakes. They ended up being harder than I imagined, so after a few, we just made our own creations and hung them on the front door.
Christmas morning started around 7:30, which is earlier than any other day this week, but still not too bad. Of course the best part of our holiday was having family visit us. Grandpa Roger and Grandma Joni flew in on Christmas Day, and Uncle Ryan and Tarek were kind enough to do the airport pick-up and deliver everyone to our house for the evening. We had a beautiful dinner of prime rib, roasted vegetables, baked macaroni and cheese, taboulleh, cranberry sauce and Hawaiian rolls. There was also an overabundance of sweets for the holiday, including the Garrett's Chicago Mix and Caramel Crisp that I picked up on my last afternoon in the city - and then had to run to catch my train since the line had been so long.
We spent Friday playing multiple rounds of board games - mostly Monopoly Jr. because it was fun for the entire family - but also a little Scrabble. I'm so rusty at that game! William and I also "painted" cookies I got from a neighbor. They were super cute but didn't taste that great.
Christmas morning started around 7:30, which is earlier than any other day this week, but still not too bad. Of course the best part of our holiday was having family visit us. Grandpa Roger and Grandma Joni flew in on Christmas Day, and Uncle Ryan and Tarek were kind enough to do the airport pick-up and deliver everyone to our house for the evening. We had a beautiful dinner of prime rib, roasted vegetables, baked macaroni and cheese, taboulleh, cranberry sauce and Hawaiian rolls. There was also an overabundance of sweets for the holiday, including the Garrett's Chicago Mix and Caramel Crisp that I picked up on my last afternoon in the city - and then had to run to catch my train since the line had been so long.
We spent Friday playing multiple rounds of board games - mostly Monopoly Jr. because it was fun for the entire family - but also a little Scrabble. I'm so rusty at that game! William and I also "painted" cookies I got from a neighbor. They were super cute but didn't taste that great.
After two days mostly inside, Saturday was Chicago day. I had to work at the office, but the rest of the family toured the Willis Tower Skydeck and had lunch at Billy Goat Tavern. They swung by to see me before they headed home and William helped me do a little work.
