Friday miscellany: Holiday recap

I had to keep reminding myself this week that it was actually Wednesday, or Thursday, and not Monday or Tuesday. Being outside the normal routine will do that. Fortunately, my time log kept time from completely disappearing.

Anyway, I survived the holiday break. Some highlights: It was fun to see the kids’ joy on Christmas morning. I liked singing in the Christmas Eve service of lessons and carols, even if it was quite challenging (descants galore!) In the days leading up to Christmas, the little kids played in the snow up at Blue Mountain while the big kids did skiing and snowboarding. The YMCA indoor pool (waterslides!) is always a treat. We had a great playdate/visit from my podcast co-conspirator SHU and family on Christmas itself. Our daughters disappeared into a room of new Barbie stuff and were not heard from for hours. Our 3-and 4-year-old sons were heard from, because they manage to make themselves heard in general, but they had a blast as well. And I got to hold Baby G! So cute! On the 26th, Sarah and I recorded two podcast episodes, which we’ll release over the next few weeks. And we went out for drinks after.

My family also survived our trip out to Indiana. This was our first flying experience with the 6 of us in a while. We’d done a Disney trip when #4 was 8 months old, but that was it until now. The flight itself felt shockingly long for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Then it felt long on the return for my husband, since he got the lucky seat next to #4. In general, though, flying felt better than driving 11 hours, as long as the weather is good and we’re flying direct. (In case you’re wondering, we did check bags on this one). We managed to see both sides of the family, plus the Indianapolis Zoo, an indoor play place called Kids Planet, and the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. I enjoyed (as always!) the miniature rooms.

I ran every single day. Mostly outside. My run on December 31st was quite lovely — foggy and unseasonably warm (upper 40s).

I succeeded in staying up until midnight on New Year’s Eve. Barely.

We managed to get all our presents from extended family members back into our bags for the return trip. I was quite proud of myself for that one.

There was also a fair bit of naughtiness from #4, no doubt brought on by a changed schedule and environment, and the stimulation of being around many many people. Travel with kids is just challenging. “Vacations” aren’t really vacations. I do have a fantasy of spending next New Year’s in an evening dress somewhere. Maybe I should start working on the babysitter now…

In other news: I know blogs are so 2006, but I really enjoy writing here! What other blogs do you read? I’d love some suggestions for people to follow. You can email me at lvanderkam at yahoo dot com if you don’t want to post here.

Photo: In person, with mugs!