Christmas day we stayed home and opened presents, played games, and just hung out. The kids all got new pajamas, and i've hardly seen them wearing anything else for the past week. They changed to leave the house, and then they get right back into their pajamas when they get home. I'm glad they like them, i guess!
This year, instead of giving us all presents, my parents instead paid for our whole family to go out for a few fun outings. So on the 26th, we all went bowling. Zane turned out to be quite an amazing bowler - he basically won both games on his lane (beating most of the rest of the people as well), losing only to Juanito, who wasn't actually there. Houston and Zane took turns being Juanito, so Zane was half of Juanito's score, but he (Zane) was really, really disappointed and sad that he didn't actually win. Nothing any of us could say ("But...YOU were being Dad! You're the one who got him all of those points!) made any difference. Nevertheless, a fun time was had by all.
On the 27th, we went to Rebounderz, a giant trampoline playground, basically. They also had a super high platform you could jump off of into a blob, and all of the kids loved doing that. I was all, "Sure! I'll do that!" until i got up there, and then my body was all, "Nope." After several false starts, i finally leaped off, and then went to do it again. And i did! And then, a while later, the kids wanted to do it again, and i was all, "Sure. Okay." Except, even though i had already done it twice, i could not make myself jump a third time. I think it was partly because between the second and third jumps, i saw the sign that was all, "If you land on your feet, you'll break your ankles," and that's the way i kept landing, and i didn't want to tempt fate. So i stood up there, trying and trying to make myself jump until people i didn't even know were yelling, "You can do it!" from across the room...and then i took the walk of shame back down and slunk off.
But anyhow. There was much jumping by all, and a ninja track that you could do, which was harder than i thought it would be, and i was super impressed by lots of people, but especially my brother Rick who absolutely rocked it.
And then we went back to my parents' house for pizza and games. Houston has recently discovered a love of cards, so i dragged him into a card game when we needed another player, and taught him to play Spades. (He already knew how to play Wizard, and Spades has a lot of the same rules.) And then we played and played and played until it was after midnight. (We did switch it up and play "Alisha's game" after a while.)
On the 28th, we went roller skating. Katrina and i love to skate, so we were totally excited. Houston and Zane had never skated before, so they were like, "?????" And so i taught them how to skate. First Houston, because Zane kind of disappears sometimes and Houston was there. I so, so, so wish that i could have videotaped Houston learning how to skate. Imagine a giraffe on roller skates, and you probably have a pretty good idea. He fell and fell and fell, but he just kept getting up and smiling and laughing and eventually he got it and did awesome. And then Zane, who was a much harder sell, because if he doesn't catch on to something really quickly, he wants to just give up. He tried and couldn't figure it out and wanted to quit a bunch of times, but in the end, he totally persevered and ... sort of got it. I still wouldn't say that he can skate, but he's a LOT better than he was.
The rest of us skated like crazy. Katrina isn't a fan of going fast, but she was out there the whole time, having a blast. Someone started a game of tag, and most of us out there - my brothers and sisters and a few of the in-laws and even some of the nieces and nephews - totally played. There were people everywhere, so it was kind of tricky and i'm sure the rink owners wouldn't have approved, but we didn't knock anyone down, so i'm calling it fair.
The 29th we had pizza-movie night and watched the rest of season 10 of Doctor Who. Yay!
The 30th we completely rested. I didn't have to work, and we all stayed in pajamas and watched movies and read books and played games and didn't do much of anything.
On New Year's Eve, my parents, my sister Chellie, and her kids all came over to ring in the new year. We ended up spending most of the night playing the new game i got for Christmas called Codenames. (Excellent choice, Juanito!) At first my dad was all, "Meh. I'll just watch," but we forced him to play, and by the end of the first game, he was completely hooked. It's an excellent game, because you can play with any age and any number of people, and i haven't met anyone yet who didn't enjoy it. Yay!
New Year's Day, Beth came over and we watched the first movie of the Lord of the Rings. My kids were all, "But...i haven't read it!" And i kind of said, "Um...yep. That's okay." Because i like the story, but i just cannot like reading those books.
When the movie ended, the kids all wanted to start on their new projects. Except Houston - he's been working like crazy on the computer that he's building for a project for school. Zane did two experiments - first he blackened an egg and made it look all silvery, and then he put an egg in vinegar and is currently letting it dissolve the eggshell. Katrina made a confetti journal.
Which brings us to today. I went back to work. Houston slept until 1:30. Zane slept on and off all day. And Katrina's cousin Gabriella came over and the two of them played together all day while the boys were off sleeping. (Those two get along SO well, and i love that they get to have that close relationship.)
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