Christmas in Florida

This year, we did the longest round-trip we've done for Christmas (although not for a generic holiday) by going to see my sister-in-law and her partner in Panama City, FL. It took us two long days to get there, each way, stopping over in northern Alabama on the way down and near Nashville, TN on the way home. Although the high temperatures were in the 50s and 70s the whole time we were there, it rained almost every day, so we didn't get to do as much outside as we (the kids) would have liked.

The kids walking dogs with LL and Shannon

 We arrived the night before Christmas Eve, to all of the in-laws present. The kids loved meeting LauraLynn's dogs, and Molly took a particular liking to Ida, the Jack Russell terrier who was closest to her size. (The other two are lab mixes). Both kids insisted on being present for as many of the dogs' walks as they could. Leo sometimes did an okay job of walking one of them by himself, but Molly was very upset that she wasn't allowed to walk Ida all by herself.

Molly and Ida

Our one serious-ish outdoor excursion was on Christmas Eve, to see the place where LauraLynn has helped open a yoga studio. We were able to walk from there over to the beach on the Gulf, where it was very windy, and the waves didn't look all that happy. We think it was about here that Molly acquired an ear infection.

J and L at the Gulf on Christmas Eve

We let the kids open presents on Christmas Eve, especially because Santa came to visit while we were out. We also had no interest in trying to keep the kids from opening presents until after Marge & Erv got there on Christmas Day, so everything worked out. The kids both loved everything they got, with Molly scoring more Hello Kitty art things than a stick could be shaken at, and Leo doing a pretty good job with the harmonica he got, although the big parts of his present didn't come until later.

Molly and her pile of presents

Grown-ups got to open things the next day. Kirstin's big present was a pair of ice skates (although we're swapping the ones originally received out for a slightly different style that we think will fit better). She's only been talking about them on and off since before her birthday, so I think she was happy. My big presents were a replacement coffee mug, a home root beer brewing kit (first gallon underway as I write this), and a shirt that ties into the impending release of the final volume of a book series I've been reading for more than half my life. (Thanks to my stepsister for starting me on it, and thanks to the kids for the shirt!)

The entire family

 We spent the day after Christmas hanging around the house while LL went to teach a class and Shannon was at work. As for the rest of the trip, that's the subject of another post, all on its own.

Kirstin, Marge, and LauraLynn