"Hey Mom…..Mom?…..Mom………Yes, honey what is it?……..Where are all the blow-up things?…….What are you talking about, baby……..You know the blow up 'no man and reindeers…...Oh, honey, they are gone, its not Christmas anymore…….Whaaaaaaaat? What is it then? Is it Halloween?"
Poor baby. Its so hard to say goodbye to Christmas. Last week I cleaned up Christmas and made room for my parents who would arrive the next day. I learned the hard way that the tree should probably be undecorated while he is fast asleep. Note-to-self for next year. It was traumatic. His sobs were about to break my heart so I kept the tree on the back porch so he could say goodbye to it over time, in his own time. Yes, Christmas is fun for little ones but also really difficult to understand. And no one warned me about the Christmas day fallout. Its a thing. It happens in the afternoon when the sugar drops you and you should have been put down for a nap hours ago and all the toys have been opened and played with and mom and dad are pooped out. I seriously had to throw Georgie in the shower to snap him out of the crazy-Santa-came and went-stupor. After a short rest we went to our Pastor's house for a Christmas dinner. It was lovely. Fine china, a ham, creamed corn and all kinds of wonderful dishes were shared. Music and laughter, the whole bit! I made biscuits and cranberry sauce. George sat at the "kids" table (his first experience) and I think he really enjoyed the fact that mother hen could not watch his every move. I am not sure he ate anything at all but I kind of enjoyed not being so concerned. The day after Christmas was just like any other Thursday. George headed off to work and Georgie and I emerged from all the boxes and tissue paper and played with new toys all day. Friday was a gorgeous day so we took off for the beach. I found a place to park for free where the beach is not a mile wide. I call that a score. Bigger score- I ended up in my bathing suit and even got in the water waist deep. Great day, it was cold in the water but I still wanted to say that I got in the Pacific Ocean in December.
beach Friday 12.27.13
beach Sunday 12.29.13
I am not sure what happened between that day and New Years Day (and it wasn't because I had an all night long great New Year's Eve celebration). Then my parents came to visit on New Years Day. We had such a full, fun week that I was unable to find time to blog, or even journal the whole time. I am not sure we even left a moment to think! So I find myself here on my little favorite perch, having survived Christmas and New Years in California and on the other side of an occasion I had looked forward to since we moved here. Having my parents here was such a treat, but now what do I do? I can't possibly think about the fact that I will not see them for six months. I can't plan my next trip to NC because I have decided *again* never to go to LAX- except to return home for good. I guess I will have to just document our visit to the best of my ability. But I must not neglect New Year's Day. George's boss got the two of us tickets to see the Rose Parade. Three days before the parade, we found out little George could go too. I was thrilled because parades are the sort of thing that entertain children and adults alike. He had a great time. We set the alarm for early, Shirley, and hit the road to Dr. Stevo's house. It was cold out before the sun was up but warmed up nicely over the course of the morning. Our favorite thing was the extreme pogo -ers. They would jump on these huge pogo sticks and even do flips before the return to earth. Amazing! Then a brunch at Dr. S's house with a bunch of his family and friends while the traffic died down.
This was brunch after the parade at Dr Stevo's house. I wish you could see the view, his house overlooks the Rose Bowl Stadium!
So began our wonderful week of togetherness!
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