This was Christopher's first Christmas (in this country at least) and, well, let's just say he's on-board with the concept. Weeks of anticipation (“Christopher's turn for presents!”) culminated in a Christmas morning jubilee as Chris and Ben took turns tearing open presents and then spent the entire day reveling in their new-found toydom. Christopher spent most of the day playing with his new school bus (neither the first nor the last one he received for Christmas---apparently word had gotten out) while Ben watched his new Ratatoullie DVD twice in one afternoon.

They had gotten a little bit of a Christmas preview after our week-long visit to see Kari's parents in NC, where, of course, the boys were rightfully spoiled silly. We survived the long car trip (thankfully the weather was cooperative) and had a lovely time with Christopher meeting his grandparents for the first time. It was also the first time we got to meet our nephew Freddy, who is a cutie-pie-and-a-half. Fun with toys, long breakfasts, more fun with toys, the occasional trip to the store, delicious dinners, more fun with toys, and lots of grandparently love made for a perfect opening to the Christmas season.

As much fun as we had in the South, it was still nice to get home to relax and enjoy the holiday in our own house. After our brief interlude, we were back on the road again for a weekend trip to my parents house. More family introductions for Christopher and more toys and fun with cousins. Despite being the odd-man out in most of the group kid play, Cristopher didn't seem to mind (indeed, he asserted himself most effectively). Meanwhile, Ben played his first games of Go Fish and Boggle, while we learned how to play a fun new Scrabble-y game called Bananagrams.

It was a wild and crazy couple of weeks, but to our relief (and the kids' dismay) we have now gotten back to some semblance of the pre-holiday routine.