Christmas at the Lake, originally uploaded by cheryl.
For the first time in months (like eight, if you want to count), I had a weekend off. And even better, it was a paid weekend off. This past weekend was the one we worked out to spend at the lake with my family. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Brian and his kids Austin and Kyndal, and our family all got together to celebrate the holiday.
Our family drove down Friday night after Daddy got home from his job at the fire academy. Uncle Brian and his kids followed us on Saturday morning (cousin Kyndal had a dance recital on Friday night). We spent the day hanging out, catching up and enjoying some down time from work and school and the general chaos of our lives. The boys also enjoyed Grandpa's new flat screen television on the loft, especially around basketball game time.
Grandma made a big holiday dinner - two actually, since Brian and I can't agree on a favorite. She made roast beef and noodles for me, complete with white beans and yeast rolls, and turkey and gravy with green beans, corn and cranberry sauce for Brian. Everyone sampled a little bit of it all.
After dinner, the kids waited restlessly for present time. We did manage to let Grandma clean up the kitchen a little before the attacked. Grandpa even lit a fire in the fireplace, which the twins were fascinated by for quite some time. And then it was time to start ...
Youngest to oldest was the order. Xander, by all of three minutes, started. Then Sawyer. And then Connor. Next was Kyndal. Last was Austin. They all got a lot of great presents. The little guys had some texture toys (which of course made them happy) and some puzzles and motion books. Connor got a really BIG Lincoln Logs set with a train, a book and a sight word game, Kyndal got some art supplies, some Zoo Pets, and some clothes from her favorite store - Justice, and Austin got some clothes, the Percy Jackson book series, and some candy.
Before the night was over, the rain that had started to fall turned to snow. And that meant we all left a little earlier than planned on Sunday morning. Cousin Kyndal has another dance recital Sunday afternoon, and they had to be there in time for dress rehearsals.
Grandma sent us all off with a big country breakfast - sausage, country ham, bacon, biscuits, gravy and scrambled eggs (last minute switch, as there wasn't time to fry that many eggs - sorry Grandpa)!
It was a nice chance to take a break from the sometimes chaos of the holiday season. No school, no work, no rushing around. The lake is a great place for that. Special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful holiday weekend!