Merrier and Merrier! (Christmas 2019 part 2)

After church and a smooth drive to Aurora we arrived to this view and a cozy dinner...

Then this sunshine the next day!

If you can't have a white Christmas you might as well have this sky.  Started my day with a 3 mile run, then a walk at Long Point.

Stayed late and caught the sunset at the College Dock on the way home.

Next day-- more sunshine!  A visit with Jamie and Aimee and her kiddos in Ithaca...

.. then it was time for another lake side park!

We stopped and said hi to Farley's.

And Great Gully.

And dinner with cousins!

Christmas eve.  I sang with the choir which is always fun... and does offer the best view going.  That's our Morehouse triad up there getting ready for lighting the candles.

The highlight of the service was getting to ring the bells!  A cacophony of celebration.

The kids have shared the back room on air matresses  the past few years at Claire's house.  They chose to do it again this year even though there was a free bedroom. They really embraced the shared room, heading up there often during the day to hang out, read, watch youtube videos together, and annoy one another.  Proper sibling behavior.

Nestled those sugar plums in and then got things ready for the morning..

Christmas is tiring...

 Morning!

 Jack was pretty much over the moon about what he received. It should be noted that the skateboard has been used exactly 2 times since Christmas... but we'll give it a chance til spring...

 Two of the biggest hits of the day were the Onion and Far Side books Nat got at the library book sale.  Sometimes after the excitement of presents you just want to sit and read...

Annual Christmas day walk on the lakefront property, complete with requisite dreaming of the house we might someday build...

 Then off for Christmas dinner at Betsey and Peter's house.

 Game...

 Cousins...

 yummy food....

 More gifts! Sarah took charge of the exchange this year, with trash bag stations and a box collecting area. She's such a sweetie.

 Day after Christmas brought our annual trip to shop half-price at Target... and what seems to be an annual trip to see Toughannock Falls.

Evening: more time with our Morehouse cousins and (yet another!) gift exchange...

We headed home on the 27th with a detour to Niagara Falls.  Anna had never been and she was just SO excited to see the falls.

We added a new experience for our crew-- walking over the pedestrian bridge to Goat Island, which Nat and I rather loved and which the kids endured.  Several viewing areas, and the bridge to tiny Luna island, were closed for the season (despite the unseasonably warm weather that day), so we've laid plans to stop back in the summer. and make the trip across to Canada too.

Merry Merry!

So much Christmas this year! We've been busy giving and receiving and socializing nonstop since December 20th and its been both wonderful and exhausting.  As I type, presents in various states of unboxing spill out from under the tree and mingle with the general chaos of unpacking and dust that greets one upon returning from a trip.  So much joy, so much cleaning. 

Because we can't be bothered with staying home, we're heading off for two days in Pittsburgh with friends just as soon as some laundry goes through. So for now, a quick photo recap of Christmas 2019:

 Rewinding back to the weekend of December 14th for good measure...  Our annual Cookies and Caroling party.  A small group this year but that means the house stayed clean and what we lacked in number we made up for in enthusiasm of singing.

 Another day, another party. This time Sarah's annual cookie-exchange-and-Aaron's-birthday party.

 I just love these kids.

 The last week of school before break was a blur, with two concerts at the kids' schools, two holiday parties, and a gift exchange with our Community of Hope family.

Luckily we had enough cookies on hand to make it through.

 Oh and we squeezed in a return trip to Glow, this time with beer, birch rods, and people dressed up as Krampus.

 It was a hoot.

 In the midst of our busy week we also trekked out to Stan Hywet. It was a frigid night but absolutely perfect, with a snowfall from earlier in the week lingering, draped artfully over the outdoor floral arrangements, reflecting the colorful lights.

Perfection in my happy place.

 The house was beautiful, too, though the theme of "A Superhero Christmas" was not one of my all time favorites. The Lego display in the great hall was fabulous.

And I did enjoy the general mess in the breakfast room, where snowmen create just as much chaos while baking as my family does.

 Speaking of messes... one forgets how wild Christmas can be with little ones around!  Sally and I gave gifts from our table to Ellie and her kiddos, and had cookies and cocoa and sang carols.  It was very sweet if surprisingly crowded for the small group in attendance.

 December 21st-- the winter solstice and the first of our family Christmases.

 A short day but a sunny one, and full of Christmas cheer. We were all well spoiled by Gram and Vovo and between the lovely gifts, visiting relatives, and beautiful brunch, it really felt like the holiday had been accomplished.

 Also the yule log screensaver on the computer really added to the day, I think.

 A quick visit to the Solstice Steps to see our lovely lake on the shortest day...

... then home to pack like crazy for our trip to Aurora...

Breaking this post into two because there's just too much loveliness.  More to come!