Looking fresh

Merry Christmas everyone! Another topsy-turvy kind of year thanks to the pandemic, thankfully over 70% of the population had been double vaxxed by the time the holiday season rolled around so the Covid gloom was slowly lifting! Christmas parties would go on and stores would be open to help spread the cheer this year.

To start the season off on the right foot, I wanted to get a tree per usual – but to avoid getting in a bind like last year, I went and got a fake tree, and it actually looks pretty good! Yes, I know it isn’t quite the same without the smell (we have chemical sticks to imitate this šŸ˜‰ ) but it works. Eddie the Elf (on the Shelf) wasn’t much help this year; he’s all but retired now, I guess, making his annual appearance but just phoning it in – sitting in the same spot for days on end. Lazy bugger.

As with last year, the kids got an extended Christmas break from school, being set free on the 16th of December and returning on the 10th of January. Plenty of time to do some Christmas baking, see some friends (or do both at the usual Warwick Christmas camp)… or perhaps take a quick trip…? šŸ˜‰

Things around the island were close to being ‘back to normal’ for the most part (mainly just had to have masks on in public). There was a performance of the Nutcracker on this year, so the girls went to that; we all went to a few movies, did some shopping on the weekends, and had office Christmas parties.

Christmas Eve Dinner

We decided to just hang out at home on Christmas Eve this year, Jenn made a nice feast for the family and we enjoyed some time together. Turned out we had a surprise for the kids for Christmas, which was the main reason for laying low…

Christmas day was a good one (well, it always is, isn’t it?), the highlight was opening gifts in the morning and revealing a surprise to the kids – a trip to New York, leaving the next day! The reveal happened through a series of gifts with clues on a mini scavenger hunt in the house, each gift revealed something for our trip. Josh and Ryley were both super excited, Ryley actually got overwhelmed and broke down in tears before the hunt was over! It was so sweet, she took a few minutes to catch her breath. We were in full packing mode after gifts were opened, and we had to go for ‘official’ Covid tests later that morning in order to be allowed to travel to the US the next day.

After packing and Covid testing and chatting with our families back in Canada, we finished off Christmas day with an amazing meal at the Cooze’s with the Cundliffes. It was a good night as always, they have a newly renovated house right on the water that is perfect for hanging out. We couldn’t stay too late, however, as we had to get home and ready for our flight to New York the following day (to be continued…)!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season!