Merry Christmas! We woke up later this morning, but traditionally, Madison has never been an early riser on Christmas morning, like so many other kids you may know. We all woke up a little later, and sure enough, when we woke up there were all these new presents under the tree, left there somewhere in the night for Mommy, for Daddy, and of course a lot for Madison. The stockings were full, and someone drank the milk and the carrots were gnawed on. Daddy put the Christmas music in right away, and we all sat there for a moment to enjoy the sight of Christmas morning, so full of anticipation. Already, Madison saw some new "pets" under the fireplace, a few stuffed narwhals that she had asked for on Santa's list. Madison was very good this year, so Christmas was going to be really good to her.
She opened up one present right away, one underneath the Star Wars tree - it was another Porg! This was a Porg ornament, and it got hung up on the Star Wars tree facing Madison's room so she can see it as she leaves.
Madison got a lot of things, including this shirt for her martial arts classes. She can't wait to get back involved with that again in 2020, at least more than she has been. Christmas play practice took up a lot of that time, but she's ready to get back into the swing of things, "kicking off" the year right.
The fireplace was ground zero, as you can see here with stockings and narwhals. Before we even started opening any more presents though, we made a call on FaceTime to the grandparents in Daytona. They were already up and waiting!
And that's when the Christmas carnage began! One by one, with the grandparents looking on and Christmas music playing, we enjoyed the fruits of the most wonderful morning of the year. We opened presents, smiled and occasionally squealed at all the good stuff left for us under the tree.
Madison got a few books she wanted, plus a video game she'd been asking for. She got a lot of clothing that she loved, and plenty of art supplies, from origami paper to sketch pads and colored pencils. Madison wanted a new Atlanta Braves hat, and she got that too, putting it on right away. She got the new Spider-Man movie, which of course was a big deal - we watched it later tonight. Mommy opened some of the items we got her, from Bath & Bodyworks gels to pajamas to skillets to ... well, this:
This is a joke item, but a practical one. Matthews Printing always gives us calendars, so Daddy got one this year and wrapped it. But Mommy also got a few other nicer calendars as well.
Here's another joke gift, a combo package if you will. Daddy got Mommy a copy of the Mystery Date game, along with a Weenie Whistle. If you're familiar with the movie "The Santa Clause," you already get the joke.
It was a fun morning, relaxing and just so special as always. Madison is getting older, so the gifts were older too, not as many toys under the tree this year. But there were a few games, and then there was this moment here:
When all was unwrapped, we did the "Ralphie" moment, where, "Wait, I think there's still one more thing over there on the tree - do you see it?" Sure enough, about half-way up and in the back, resting in the midst of the tree, there was this card. It said, "Merry Christmas from Dollywood" on it. And inside, it said, "YOU HAVE SEASON PASSES to DOLLYWOOD."
Madison really wanted to go to Dollywood and Tennessee this year, and we missed out on that thus far. But unbeknownst to her, we've been making plans to go back for her, and go back a lot. In fact, we asked her when she wanted to go back. And she said, "Tomorrow?" And we said, "Sure!" And she then said, "Wait, what?" And we smiled at her, laughing, and she was laughing too. Yes, we're serious - we're going to Dollywood tomorrow. We made the hotel reservations earlier, do you want to go? She was all over that one: YES!
We've got some packing to do.
But first, breakfast. Mommy made something new, what is called a "Dutch baby."
I'm not entirely sure why it is called a Dutch baby. It seems like this would be an insult to Dutch babies, but as far as the food item goes, it was absolutely delicious!
Mommy said she would make it again in the future, and that's going to make the new year even brighter. Seriously, this was very good.
And so we arrived at that time - always a shorter time - where we clean up a bit and prepare to go off to Nana and Ye-Ye's house for Christmas. It's a time to inspect all the goodies we got, and munch on chocolates because why not, it's Christmas!
And so, the time came for us to go over to the grandparents house, and Aunt Shain was there with the cousins, and we were ready for some Christmas fun!
The ham was still cooking for a bit, so we decided to start the afternoon off by opening the presents!
Yes, Nana got "Gone with the Wind" again for the twentieth year in a row or so...!
The presents were all lined up - you can see all the gifts on the couch for Jonathan and David here. But everyone got a lot of nice things.
Here's Daddy with one of his gifts - I think this was part of the game "Villainous" that I asked for, a game we'll hopefully be playing together soon!
Meanwhile, everyone else was opening their presents, one at a time. Christmas music hung in the air, as did laughter and surprise. It's always a wonderful morning!
Ah! Ye-Ye's gift was finally opened. It took him a while to open up. But it took Daddy over an hour to wrap the thing. Rather than just put a bow on it, Daddy cut out two identical-sized pieces of cardboard that he cut into the shape of Christmas trees (to mask the triangular shape and size of this gift item). Then came the wrapping, which took a good bit of time. Anyway, it was a fun presentation, and the gift was appreciated.
All the gifts were appreciated, of course. Some of these items were collected way back in the summer time, because we sort of think that far ahead and then forget that we got some of these items back in the summer time, and then the next thing you know there are a few more presents under the tree than we originally intended to get!
Of course, Madison got a lot. She got a game of LIFE, which she's been wanting. She also got a book that she was after too, one she saw at the Book Fair about a month ago.
Mommy got plenty of things too, and looked very festive today. In fact, everyone had their ugly Christmas sweaters or in the case of David, he had a Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas" sweatshirt on, which was hilarious.
The opening of presents went on for a while, with the usual carnage of wrapping paper thrown about. You were either unwrapping, or just watching on with anticipation as someone else opened that special gift you got for them.
Back a month ago, we exchanged names randomly, and that's the way it has been the last few years or so. One of the names we drew was Aunt Shain's, and she wanted a few movies in particular, ones she was happy to get.
But with Madison, everyone got something for Madison.
Mommy looked so nice in her big chair there, hot tea beside her, and one of the dogs resting in her lap. This was a very nice Christmas picture of Mommy, pretty much summing up how pleasant this day was for all of us.
Or perhaps it was this picture here, the look of surprise on Nana's face as she opens a gift. We all had that sort of face as we opened our gifts from one another. One by one, the gifts were opened until there were none left, and that timed out perfectly with our meal being ready.
But first, a nice family photo on Christmas Day. We look quite festive! After opening presents, we were off to the dining area, and that's when we had the remarkable feast we always have. The decorations were so nice, and the delicious candies were everywhere - so much tradition in just that alone. We had all of this fudge available, but then all those unique candies and cookies we've always had at Christmastime at Nana and Ye-Ye's house. So much effort was put into it, and it was so nice to be together. The meal itself was wonderful, and like most of these feasts, it was over with too quickly. Fortunately, there was dessert afterwards!
Ye-Ye went through so much effort to making this cake, a gluten-free cake that the whole family seems to be impressed by. In moments, we'd be tearing into it, as if we hadn't eaten enough sweets already.
But there was one more sweet to go before we left.
This is the Saratoga Springs Peppermint Pig. We ordered one when we heard about this tradition that goes back a hundred years or so. I have no idea why or how, but we bought into it this year, ordering a peppermint pig, a bag, and a special hammer.
The pig goes into the bag, and you hammer it in order to break it up into smaller, more edible pieces.
The tradition goes that the patriarch of the family goes first, hitting the bag (with the pig inside), just after saying something he has been grateful for in the past year.
And similarly, the rest of the family follows suit, saying something they are thankful for as they strike the pig. Or... what's left of the pig.
We're very much into strange and obscure Christmas traditions, and this one looked interesting, so we ordered one online about a month ago. It's a solid piece of peppermint shaped like a pig, and the presentation is nice.
I believe this tradition started in the 1880's, and despite the fact that this all began just up the road from where Ye-Ye and Nana actually lived, they had never heard of this before. None of us had.
The current stats we read online say that there are 130,000 of these peppermint pigs made each year. So it's a tradition that is growing for them. Not to say we'll do this each and every year - it was just fun to try out.
Here's Madison saying what she is thankful for - family and friends - and hitting the remnants of the pig inside that bag. And after that, we all got to enjoy the taste of peppermint - really good. As patriarch, Ye-Ye was supposed to eat the pig's bottom. Which of course made for a funny moment.
And it made for a sweet moment too, as Asaf, went in for some peppermint kisses as well.
It was a pretty full day today, and our tummies were certainly full. And everyone was quite tired, some of us still worn out from the marathon that precedes Christmas. And so it was time to leave already, and we said our goodbyes and wishes for a Merry Christmas - which is was already a Merry Christmas. It was a beautiful day. A long one, and a beautiful one.
We went back home after that, and there was no energy left in the tank. We made time to watch one of our Christmas gifts, "Spider-Man: Far From Home," and after that, we were off to bed, still smiling at the memories of a very wonderful day.
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