Merry Christmas!!!

Hard to believe Christmas has already come and gone! I admit to having had a case of the Christmas Eve blues this year. The warm, un-Christmassy climate, missing friends and family and the cumulative fatigue of the day-in, day-outness of it all had me kinda bummed out. But there is nothing like little kids to jolt you back into the merriment of the season.

Christmas Eve-Day we took a trip to Legoland where Kai rode his first ever roller coaster! He had to be a bit persistent as we had more than a few reservations about strapping him into the speeding ride and hoping for the best. But he was pretty sure that he wanted to so Daddy and Kai waited in line and rode the "Coastersaurus" while I distracted Teia (who does not like to miss out on anything) with stuffed lions at the nearby toy store. The verdict: big smiles and thumbs up! Maybe it was my Christmas Eve moodiness but I got a bit emotional about our little man's first roller coaster ride. I think he is now an official "big boy!" (As an aside he has been telling us his toddler bed is too small lately, but I think it is a ruse so he can continue to sleep in his cardboard lifeguard station on the floor!)

Once it got dark and felt a little more Christmas eve like we partook of our Fennell Family Christmas Eve traditions - mulligatawny soup and chocolate fondue. That was after we drove 10 miles to see an advertised Thomas the Train light display that was decidedly underwhelming. 

This year Kai has been a bit apprehensive about Santa. When you think about it, a big fat guy with a white beard wearing a red suit who comes into your house at night when you're sleeping is sort of creepy. It took us awhile to figure out what he was worried about but insistent comments and questions about what happens while he was sleeping tipped us off. Christmas morning all the little Fennells slept in and Kai stayed in his room with his sheets over his head and wasn't sure he wanted to look at the Christmas tree at first. But when he heard the sound of toy trains he couldn't resist anymore and quickly got into Christmas morning. 

Present opening took a loooooooong time but was considerably quicker than the 6 or so days it usually takes. The kids were ripping and tearing from about 8 am until about 8 pm with a break in the middle to pick up Granddad at the airport and for Teia to take a nap. Kai has never been much of a gift opener but this year was a completely different story. He was rippin' and tearin' with the best of them. He made no bones about his favorite gift: his new toy ambulance complete with "bandaid boxes."

He was also pretty excited to open up a brand new big boy scooter from the NJ Fennells. He immediately put it together and scooted barefoot up and down our walkway. 

Teia's favorite gift was....well...everything. She played with each wonderful present she opened for as long as she could until we moved her onto the next one. While it did make present opening take a long time, I hope she hangs onto this tendency year after year. She truly treasured and appreciated everything she opened.

She loved her new baby from Grandma C and especially loved changing its new outfits. 

Her Zoo from Grandma Barbie and Poppa Mike was another big hit. In fact, Teia was so excited to play with her zoo that she started trying to put it together herself while Daddy was occupied with assembling one of Kai's toys. 

Daddy dressed Teia up in her Christmas dress with red sparkly shoes for the trip to the airport to pick up Granddad Dave. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of her looking dapper. Daddy did put the dress on backward but it still looked really cute. Teia rode her trike and Kai rode his scooter all the way from the parking lot into the airport to pick up Granddad. 

We had a lovely Christmas dinner, cozy fire and tucked everyone into bed. Greg and I found that we were slightly less exhausted than last year and even a little less than the year before (when we scarcely had a chance to exchange gifts!) so we're hoping that next year we might even get to experience a little of that Christmas holiday relaxation feeling! (And maybe a little skiing too!)

Here is Kai drinking his "fizzy juice" for Christmas dinner in a pint sized wine glass

Looks like summer weather has returned to San Diego these last few days so we'll be back to post some photos of Christmas summer holiday with Granddad!