J-M Christmas 2013: Heading Up (1 of 4)

Just for the heck of it, and just for a change, (and because, I’ll admit it: I’m going through a phase of being tired of being the photographer all the time), I decided that 2013 would be an iPhone Photo Christmas. No “big camera,” no flash, no adjusting the lens, no carrying the camera gear around, just snapshots with all their grainy imperfections. Now, after it is all said and done, I am not disappointed at all. In looking through the photos today I can appreciate the simple non-glossy quality of it. I like how it makes our Christmas seem more realistic, more as it was, how I remember it. Here’s our little family photo album — J-M Christmas 2013:

The To Do lists for our annual Christmas extravaganza are ridiculously endless. I seriously question, every year, why on earth we do what we do, and if it is worth it. But then, when it is all over and done with, I always find my answers: We do it for all the right reasons, and yes, it is worth it.

So… we keep on doing it year after year. But the lists, oh the lists (the two above are just the tip of the iceberg). If you could read those lists you’d see that “Dash- Grooming” is at the top of one of them. He got groomed for the first time in anticipation of his very first Christmas. I cried when I first saw him with all his puppy fluff cut off (luckily, we’ve realized, his fur grows fast and he’s already quite a fluffernutter again, thank God). If you could read those lists you’d also see that “Pedicure” (mine) was never crossed off (which, sadly enough, is the norm for these trips and lists — “pedicure” is always on them, but almost never gets crossed off). You’d also see that “Stamps” and “Mailing Labels” weren’t crossed off either — and, pathetically, we still have yet to mail out our holiday cards. Those are a few lows.

But we had lots of highs. Including, right at the top of our list, a little pre-Christmas side-trip to Boston at the start of our pilgrimage this year.

The kids had a half day of school on Friday, the 20th. We hit the road and headed straight for Boston with a car packed to the gills. We had tickets for the Black Nativity. Braydon and I saw it years ago, before we had kids, and we had been waiting for the right year to bring Kyle and Owen to see it. We suspected this would be a great age for it — and it was. We got there just in time to walk straight in for the 8pm performance. It was awesome. If you ever have the chance to see it, it is a must — especially for black kids. Kyle and Owen absolutely loved it, and we got so much out of it. Click here for link.

That night we splurged on a really comfortable hotel, right downtown. They upgraded our room (yay!), and the next morning we woke up to an amazing view of Boston and what the bambinos described as “The Best Room Service Breakfast Ever!”

We spent the better part of Saturday exploring Boston, on foot, with Dash. Much to Kyle’s delight (our history buff), we got to see the Old State House and site of the Boston Massacre.

Much to all of our delight (foodie family), we got to have lunch at Quincy Market. The photo below gives me much joy as I am really starting to see my dreams of having a family who truly appreciates food come true. With a multitude of options and possibilities, and the freedom to each truly choose our own lunch, our little party of five chose: K=Indian, O=sushi, M=frozen yogurt, B=Greek gyro, H=Boston lobster roll. I got such a big kick out of this little lunchtime moment of food-diversity during our Christmas holiday.

And then we headed to New Hampshire.

This year we did something different. We rented a VRBO in the woods, right across the street from my parent’s house, so that our family could have a little space to ourselves and give the rest of our extended family breaks from us too. It worked out well because we could spread out, keep all our stuff there (and man, there’s a lot of stuff for this trip— the snow gear alone is voluminous!), and not overwhelm my parents’ house with our very-big-and-at-times-unruly presence 24×7.

However… this place was nothing like anything we’ve ever experienced before. It was a sort of woodsy “hunting cabin” — and was loaded (and I mean loaded) with the antlered, winged, and clawed trophies of the owners. It was seriously like staying a week in a taxidermy museum. Taxidermy Museum. Not our thing. At all. And it was really hard to ignore the eyes staring down from all the walls and not be totally freaked out the entire time. Here are just a few examples of our Christmas Week VRBO’s interior decor:

And here is the piece de resistance — the bearskin rug, complete with full head and all the claws (all of which I honestly could not handle, and did have to roll up and hide under a table, along with the fake poinsettias, for our stay):

Despite all that taxidermy, it was great to have the VRBO for all the reasons we had hoped it would be. It gave us a separate space, a little get-away at bedtime, allowed our kids to wake up at their own pace, and gave us some downtime — all of which was greatly appreciated. And from the outside, the VRBO looked just like it had been advertised to be — a cute little “chalet” deep in a winter wonderland.

Having it right across the street from my parents’ home made it easy to go to-and-from. Even the little walk between the houses was beautiful.

And my parents’ house was, of course, just beautiful in all its snowy cozy Christmastime glory~~