We spent 4 days going from place to place over Christmas. There were times that felt stressful, exhausting, and times that seemed completely overwhelming while we were on this trip. I'm sure there were times that our families thought we were either crazy or horrible people because it became harder and harder to "play nice" as time went on. You load the car and leave your house excited about Christmas and all the fun that will come--and you're looking forward to seeing everyone. It's funny how once you have unloaded and reloaded the car a couple of times, including trying to find places for all of your new gifts, the stress starts to set in. You're tired now and not as energetic as you were when you started the journey. The boys become tired and start to whine or become emotional and cry about everything and you feel your blood pressure rise. Aunts and Uncles let the kids have sweets and sodas without you knowing it, a child gets hurt, a child throws up, tantrums are abundant (and not just with the children). It shouldn't be that way--and it's not fair to those we have traveled to see, but, hey, we're human and after a while the monster inside forces its way out! Ha! It was, however, wonderful to see our families and spend some time with them. The boys had a great time and received a lot of great gifts. We had a lot of delicious snacks and meals provided for us, fun activities, and I have to say that I am more than happy with the gifts I received. I enjoyed being able to sit and talk to people who are important to me and my family and enjoyed seeing everyone. Even though there were stressful times (usually these happened while traveling or while trying to get the boys to go to bed) it was fun and a lot of great memories were made!
We arrived home on Sunday evening and unloaded the car. We ate dinner and unpacked our suitcases and hoped the boys, who had slept the entire way home, would go to bed early. Yeah--that didn't happen. The boys were excited to be home. They were happy to be able to play with their new toys and look at their new books. I'll admit, it WAS good to be home!
We referred to Monday as our "recovery day"--the house was still a huge mess and I was WAY behind on laundry. Slowly but surely the house is looking more like it once did before a tornado of Astleys ran through it placing gifts, packages, and other items all over it. Jacob and I have had time to look at the new gifts we have received. I received some really great books from Jacob's parents and I was able to skim through them for a bit. I read one of them, Charmed by Audrey, from cover to cover as I sat there. It was filled with amazing photos and wonderful quotes and I really enjoyed it. It is nice to have Jacob off work and the boys out of school and to have these moments not only to ourselves but also with each other.
Yesterday we decided to go shopping. We received some money and gift cards for Christmas and Alex had money and gift cards from his birthday. We went to a few different places and found some great deals. We got some new vinyls and the boys found a ton of comic books and some new video games. Jacob let me go into "my" stores--stores that he could have cared less about. It was really nice of him! We also ventured into the Lego store, which is usually a fun and exciting thing for the boys and a stressful and tiring thing for Jacob and me. It's always crowded--kids bumping into you and parents letting their children just run wild and yell across the store--and the boys always want the $80 Lego set. It doesn't matter what the set is but it always looks cool and they always want it! We went in and looked at everything they had and listened to the boys say, "Wow" or "This is awesome!" They found a cool Lego set that they both wanted. It was $50 but on sale for $25. We were very proud of our find and Jacob has spent a good chunk of today in the playroom with the boys trying to put it all together. Christmas vacation is always fun when you're a child and I'm glad my boys are enjoying their time and having fun playing with all the new toys, etc. they received at the many Christmas celebrations we attended.
For those of you who let us stay with you, or fed us, or put up with us when we were tired and cranky--thank you!!
Aren't the holidays wonderful? Soon only the good memories will remain. Trust me. :-) Enjoyed having you all with us. Enjoyed your posting. And just think, Christmas 2011 is less than a year away! Acchhhh. ;-)
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