Santa Train

My brother Spike came through this year with a great surprise gift for us all - a train ride through the Georgetown Loop complete with a visit from Santa!  And not only did we get snacks and drinks, we got to sit in the Presidential Car!  Yes, please.  It was a fun way to spend the afternoon (though Santa was a bit more creepy than jolly) and definitely something new to do with the whole family.  I may have been a bit busy snapping pictures and chatting with the family to see much outside my window but what I did catch was beautiful.  

Our train.

Spike and Sara.

You know these people.

Not sure his creepiness comes through here but he asked MadHatter how she got her scar on her thumb and then proceeded to tell her about his scar, that he got from an axe...

And Grampa even bought us the picture.

Grampa - 1 B - 0

Wonderland Walk

I love the great outdoors in winter, in moderation.  I am not a fan of long periods of cold weather (hence the move to Florida) but I love outdoor snow activities, and my favorite of all may be snowshoeing.  I will snowshoe any time someone asks, and I will snowshoe by myself.  I will go out if it is too cold to go skiing (the trees protect you from the frigid temps) and I will go out on the gloomiest of days.  It lifts my mood and gets me some exercise to boot.  How can you go wrong with that combination?  During the week we were in Colorado, you could find me on the trails any given morning, just me and my cell phone camera.  But one morning I was joined by the family, and there is nothing better than sharing something you love with those you love.

And a handful of snaps from my solo trekking...

Until next time!

Rocky Mountain Adventures

We may have celebrated Christmas Day at home but that didn't mean we were staying put.  Bright and early on the 26th we were off to the airport and bound for Colorado.  Before lunchtime, we were settled into the Breck house and having fun with the cousins.  

We would be there in Colorado for a week and had no shortage of fun planned - skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, oh my -   though it looks like we tried to get it all done in one day, doesn't it?  I promise, there is more fun to come...

Home Sweet Home

It is a rarity in our lives when we get to wake up in our own beds on Christmas morning.  In fact, it has only been done twice in my girls lifetimes (evidenced here and here). As soon as we bought our house in the US, we decided that this year we would be waking up in our own home on Christmas morning.  We were all pretty excited to not have the stress of flying (and the jet lag that comes with it) that we have endured for the past 8 years.  We were so relaxed, in fact, that we left making Santas cookies to the last minute on Christmas Eve, never made a celebratory dinner (didn't want leftovers because even though we would be there Christmas morning, we would not be there Christmas night), and we hopped over to the movie theatre to catch a flick.  The girls were in heaven.  And so were we.  It was slow and easy and just what we needed after the past few months of craziness.  Next year we will probably travel again and wake up in someplace other than our own home, and I am ok with that.  But this year, this was just what the doctor ordered.

Fidget got handled quite a bit on Christmas Eve (the only day the girls can touch her), and Stinkerbell kept checking to see where Santa was. 

Just because we were at home didn't mean that we didn't have Nana and Grampa read the traditional Twas the Night Before Christmas to the girls.  We just had to do it over Skype.

Everyone got to open one present on Christmas eve.  I think they were all pretty happy.

Eggnog, cookies, and carrots were left for Santa and the reindeer.

Santa made some large deliveries this year!

I woke to this sight - the girls were patiently awaiting the adults to come downstairs so they could open their presents.

But first, Coffee and Kringle.

The little elves handed out presents...

We had an early flight out of Fort Myers airport the next morning.  Which meant spending the night at Nana and Grampas on Christmas night even though they were already in Colorado.  It also meant taking Dulce and Pepper over with us so that their dog sitter could watch all 4 of the animals while we were gone.  This was Dulce and Lucy's first meeting (dog sitter petting Dulce already).  And it was the beginning of a great friendship!