We spent a very nice, very extended Christmas break in Florida this year. When I booked the boys and my flights, I rationalized that this is the last year that we are not fairly bound by a school calendar. I am pretty sure the preschool calendar is a loose suggestion of when to come rather than a state and local mandate for attendance. So far, we have violated Faithbridge Presbyterian Preschool's calendar twice. At the beginning of school because we took a trip for Thomas' birthday and most recently, at Christmastime. And don't tell, but we're doing it again in April for a Disney cruise! But this marching to the beat of our own travel drummer will come to a screeching halt once Thomas enters kindergarten. So we did it up this Christmas.
Before leaving Frisco to go to Nana Honey and Papa Bear's, we had some fun must-dos to tick off our list, like scoping out Christmas lights, seeing the boys' preschool Christmas program, meeting Santa at preschool and our neighborhood Christmas party, decorating Christmas cookies with our neighbors at our house, and a little Tom the Elf mischief.
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| Santa and the McCollums at the neighborhood party/toy drive |
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| Going out for our nightly Christmas lights sightings in our 'hood |
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| Tree Lighting party of Main Street with friends |
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| Ryan: front row left end in green and khakis (giant kid), Thomas back row, middle |
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| Good ol' Tom the Elf having fun! |
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| Christmas cookie time!!! |
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| Five moms, 11 kids, and a mother's helper. CRAZY fun! |
December is football Bowl season and Mike doesn't know which bowl games he will need to be at, so the boys and I book our travel and he finds his way to us as soon as he can. The boys and I did the same thing last year at Christmas, so we knew just what to hit up at The Villages! First stop, the golf nets. Next stop, caroling with all the old folks in front of a big karaoke machine!
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| Singing with Thomas' buddy, Tish |
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| The Righty |
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| The Lefty |
We snuck out of The Villages on Christmas Eve Day to get some extra snuggle time in with Cousin Elizabeth, teach her all our awesome tricks, play with Aunt Erica and Uncle Drew, who were staying with Nana and Papa Wuff.
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| Cruisin' with Nan |
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| Teaching "Baby Libiff" that she can just call me "Besty" for Best Aunt |
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| Spreading reindeer food and Grinch dust brought from home |
On Christmas Day, Nan, Pop, and the Kohans descended upon the The McCollums' home and we had a fun time having Thomas open our gifts, swimming, and having a blast. That night as I tucked him in, Thomas gave me the best gift. He told me in a completely satiated and gratified tone that belied his five years, that it was a great Christmas because his family came and he got everything that he had asked Santa for: a pretend crossbow and football pads. My heart swelled.
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| Indoctrinating Elizabeth |
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| And loving on her in the pool |
We pooled it (in mostly 85 degree water), hit the golf nets (where I got hit in the mouth by Thomas' backswing while he was showing me how to hit left-handed-thankfully, I still have all my teeth in place), played tennis and pickleball (my favorite) and numerous leisure activities like shuffleboard, bocce ball and horseshoes more times than I can count in the two weeks we were in The Villages. But we also fit in time to visit fun places like Uncle Donald's Farm (where the feeling of rain on my head, wasn't really rain-it was birds pooping on me and where Nana Honey really revisited her dislike of farm smells) and Eaton's Beach Sandbar (where Ryan proved to be a budding volleyball player and Thomas proved to be quite adept at horning in on other people's games).
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| Ready to bump it back! |
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| Uncle Donald's in the farm version of Magic Forest in LG |
After we had nearly all the golf and swimming and golf cart riding we could handle, Mike went back to work and the boys, Nana Honey, Papa Bear and I headed to Orlando. The greater plan was to take Thomas to Disney World, but we certainly had fun waiting...at the resort in Orlando.
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| Just a quick pop to Rainforst Cafe to see some thunder and lightining... |
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| And a massive brownie sundae! |
We stayed at the best family resort! It had an indoor play area and tons of scheduled activities including a hotel treasure hunt for my little pirates!
The love of recreational games continued and was fostered there. The boys loved playing against Nana, Papa, Mama and other guests.
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| Thomas' gargantuan hot pretzel! |
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| Sand snow angel |
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| Freezing air, but nice water temperature! |
And after a busy day doing sports, playing in the sand, playing in the play area, and fine dining, they had a gigantic tub to get clean in!
Our trip culminated in a trip to the Magic Kingdom. Figuring Ryan was a little too young to stomach a full day at Disney, we left him with Nana and Papa to get some one-on-two spoiling time. Graciously, my Aunt Barb volunteered to lead the Disney charge. We are so fortunate the we had her to lead the way! At the 11th hour, my cousin Sara offered to come along too. Thomas could not have been more excited about our last minute addition. I think he would rather see Sara than Mickey! Despite less than perfect weather, we managed to have a MAGICAL day.
We did not see Mickey and his gang, which to me seemed strange to go to his home and not see him. But I think we'll get our fill on the cruise.
Our last "no school calendar" Christmas was such a wonderful time. We enjoyed watching the boys have endless amounts of fun with a good dose of family. Not sure how next year's Christmas will pan out, but the bar has been set pretty high!
