Christmas Even, Eric and I headed down to FL. This year, we decided to give a go at driving straight down, with no overnight stops. We knew, in theory, it was very doable. We just hadn't tried it yet. So in similar fashion of our summer roadtrip easy, we got up and left really early in the morning - 5am. We actually wanted to leave earlier, but it was just too hard to get out of bed. I didn't make it too far down the road before I fell back asleep for a couple of hours... but Eric said he was okay, so I rested soundly. We just drove and stopped when we wanted to stop, and since we had no agenda, we took our time. I told my parents that if we got there in time to go by the house, we would, but don't plan anything around our arrival. Glad we did that, too, because we didn't get to our hotel until around 8pm.
We still went over to say 'hi' to my parents and Nan, and deliver our gifts to the tree. But we didn't stay long - we were quite tired. SO back to the hotel we went to crash.Since my sister and her family didn't come up until Christmas Day, we took that as a queue to sleep in and get plenty of sleep for the long day ahead. We actually barely made over to my parents before they arrived, which was no big deal, really... we ate breakfast at the hotel before we went over, so there was no delay in anybody's schedule. Once they arrived and everyone settled in, it was right to opening gifts. Even though they're teenagers, the kids still love opening gifts as if they were still six-years-old. Of course, the gifts are very different now. Did I mention how hard it is to shop for a teenage boy?? Darian started out difficult, but much in the way my list grew at her age, it was an ever growing list that made shopping for her very easy.
I actually had a hard time shopping for everyone else, this year, too. Except for my Dad... my travels made his gift list easier, as I found all sorts of fun t-shirts for him. And actually, my travels helps with everyone, as everyone got at least one souvenir type things from my travels. But I still had to get things people wanted, too.Eric is never easy to shop for, either. In fact, I'm finding none of the guys in my life are easy to shop for. Why is that? I know I'm not the only one with this issue, either... I think it's because if they want something, they just go buy it. So they never leave any hints on the table. But I digress.
The rest of our trip was a typical FL trip for me. Lots of family time, shopping with the girls (my Mom, sister, and niece), and even pierogi making this year!
Eric got a little more antsy than usual this year - he just can't stay in one place for too long with an agenda in front of him. He wanted to go do something 'planned out' and unfortunately, that's just not how my family operates. At least not since we used to do the zoo day with the kids. (Which I miss) He couldn't even get the guys to go to lunch when us girls were out shopping. I felt bad for him, but yet, this was no different than any other year. Maybe next year, we can plan at least one day out with a full agenda to calm his nerves.The trip home turned out to be another straight-thru drive. We initially planned on making a stop, but the timing of us leaving (noon) and where that put us at a good 'stopping point and time', it just didn't make sense. So we pushed through and arrived home closed to 2am. Made for a long, exhausting day, but I have to admit, it was nice to sleep in my own bed last night (this morning).
So another Christmas is in the books. Kind of hard to believe that this year is wrapping up already. It flew by way faster, it seems. But none the less, it was a great Christmas with family on both sides.
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