Christmas day at the Lovemasons began at a fairly respectable time: about 7am. This is an important Christmas for H because she will remember it but it is still a gentle one. Next year I'm sure the excitement will be even more intense and begin earlier. Once she had emptied her stocking we queried the lack of bike. "Maybe I'll get it next Christmas" was her cheerful reply (I certainly don't think we will hear that again).
We suggested checking out the tree and though the bike was on full display she was fixated on a bag that had Mickey Mouse and Father Christmas on it. After much prompting she eventually turned her eyes to the bike. It is purple, as requested, and comes with a pink bike lock and basket. We got it from a local bike store who built it. J collected it on the day before Christmas Eve while H and I went to the local cinema to see Monsters Inc. 3D. Luckily it fitted perfectly into our closet awaiting the big day.
She got many lovely presents for which we are all really grateful. Our own gift to her (the bike was from Santa) was a wooden train set with a purple Thomas the Tank Engine character (Rosie). She got a nice mix of toys to play with, ornaments to treasure, clothes (including awesome dress-up clothes) and money (which will go some way to extending the train set).
Father Christmas got me noise cancelling headphones (Bose) and Ugg gloves. He got J an assortment of little things: Christmas with Disney sheet music, card games, notebooks, candles and so on.
At noon Gavin and Elisa arrived and we had brunch (scrambled eggs and salmon). The kids of course ran around and played with their toys. We had some prosecco and periodically picked up whichever one had fallen over in excitement. The Polar Express came on at some point to provide more sedate distraction (Hatty had watched it the night before too).
A few Skype calls later and it was soon time for dinner. I would reprise my role from Thanksgiving and cook the turkey. It was cooked from frozen this time but no-one died and though it is a bit of cheat (not a full turkey it is completely boneless) I think for me it is still not a bad achievement.
The children were soon over-tired and poor Elisa is ill so they headed home and Hatty was soon in bed. We finished the evening with Cowboys & Aliens.
As ever, it was a magical time and we loved it but missed too our friends and family round the globe. The next few days should be restful before we begin an action packed 2013. Merry Christmas everyone.
We suggested checking out the tree and though the bike was on full display she was fixated on a bag that had Mickey Mouse and Father Christmas on it. After much prompting she eventually turned her eyes to the bike. It is purple, as requested, and comes with a pink bike lock and basket. We got it from a local bike store who built it. J collected it on the day before Christmas Eve while H and I went to the local cinema to see Monsters Inc. 3D. Luckily it fitted perfectly into our closet awaiting the big day.
She got many lovely presents for which we are all really grateful. Our own gift to her (the bike was from Santa) was a wooden train set with a purple Thomas the Tank Engine character (Rosie). She got a nice mix of toys to play with, ornaments to treasure, clothes (including awesome dress-up clothes) and money (which will go some way to extending the train set).
Father Christmas got me noise cancelling headphones (Bose) and Ugg gloves. He got J an assortment of little things: Christmas with Disney sheet music, card games, notebooks, candles and so on.
At noon Gavin and Elisa arrived and we had brunch (scrambled eggs and salmon). The kids of course ran around and played with their toys. We had some prosecco and periodically picked up whichever one had fallen over in excitement. The Polar Express came on at some point to provide more sedate distraction (Hatty had watched it the night before too).
A few Skype calls later and it was soon time for dinner. I would reprise my role from Thanksgiving and cook the turkey. It was cooked from frozen this time but no-one died and though it is a bit of cheat (not a full turkey it is completely boneless) I think for me it is still not a bad achievement.
The children were soon over-tired and poor Elisa is ill so they headed home and Hatty was soon in bed. We finished the evening with Cowboys & Aliens.
As ever, it was a magical time and we loved it but missed too our friends and family round the globe. The next few days should be restful before we begin an action packed 2013. Merry Christmas everyone.
