Sunday was Christmas Eve, but just another day for many people in the UAE. We made several trips to the supermarket because we kept forgetting things. Cathy and I headed to the mall and the bottle shop for some libations. I had to pick up the Nespresso pods for Stuart’s new Nespresso machine I bought him for Christmas.
Once we returned, Cathy and the girls came over for the evening. We had lasagna and a great deal of laughs. We exchanged gifts with Sean as he had to work all Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so wouldn’t be home until the night of the 26th.
I was able to Skype Grammie and Pop after Jack and Millie were asleep. Mitch FaceTimed me and they were all together in Branson. It did make me a bit sad. Stuart had said he would send me and the kids home for Christmas, but then we would be without him. That wasn’t ok.
Once the kids were in bed, Santa came to visit and we were off to bed. We had told the kids they had to stay in bed until 6 am. To allow us to sleep longer, Stuart set our microwave clock an hour earlier. So when Jack was up and downstairs, he saw the clock and it said 5:07 am, then he came upstairs and into our room. He then saw Stuart’s alarm clock, which read 6:07 am. Jig was up! Sadly, we were then forced to get up.
Within an hour, the carnage was over and the kids were playing with all the items they got. This year was very exceptional. After each gift, each kid came to hug us both and say ‘thank you’. It felt good to know they actually appreciated their gifts.
Just after 9 am, and a bit of a clean up, Cathy and the girls came over for a breakfast of ham, eggs, toast and roasted tomatoes. The table was set again and we got ready for dinner. In total, there would be 15 at the dinner table. We opened gifts from Cathy and the girls and then just prepared for guests to arrive around 2 pm.
I collected Clare and her kids so that they wouldn’t have two cars at our house. Scott had to work and would be finished around 2 pm. Everyone arrived and the festivities began. The food was plentiful and everyone enjoyed their table gifts. Once we started the clean up we discovered having two refrigerators wasn’t enough. There were so many leftovers, it assured there would be a great deal of bubble and squeak the following day.
Tuesday morning we were up and about, kind of a lazy day. People were coming for Boxing Day bubble and squeak. It was Henry’s birthday, so the boys went shooting while the women stayed at the house. Once they were back from the shooting range, we had dinner. Sean came home from work and after dinner Cathy, Stuart and I played a good game of Trivial Pursuit.
Wednesday morning we got up and Skyped Grammie and Pop. The kids told them what they got for Christmas and were nuts as usual. Millie was more animated than normal, which is always good. We had breakfast and a lazy day for sure. The kids didn’t even ask what we were doing because they were exhausted. I didn’t leave the house all day. Cathy and the girls came over later. Stuart made turkey pot pie and a turkey stew that we would have on Thursday for dinner. Sean stayed up later with us as his holidays started until after the new year.
Sean had these shirts made for our tattoo day.
Thursday was ink day again. Once my new tat was finished, I took the kids to winter Bounce camp. They bounced for 5 hours and were wiped out when they got home. Jack reported that he had clocked over 22,000 steps on his Fitbit. Yikes! Clare and Scott picked the kids up from Bounce and brought them back to our house for turkey stew. Henry spent the night with Jack. Clare and Scott left around 9 pm and then we were all off to bed.
Sean’s birthday was Thursday as well.
The boys were up early. Once we were all awake, Stuart made a full English breakfast. I then started sorting the bricks in my Lego. Millie wanted to help me, but being possessive of my own Lego, I couldn’t allow it. Cathy and the girls picked us up at 2:15 pm and we headed to Riverland, which is comparable to Downtown Disney. There are amusement parks all around it. It was all lit up for Christmas. It was pretty, but there wasn’t a great deal to entertain the kids. We decided against staying until the fireworks went off at 9 pm. It was just going to be too late for Jack and Millie, and me, to be honest. Once we were home, the kids went straight to bed and we were pretty close behind them.
Always a goofball!
Saturday morning, Cathy, Kayleigh and Claire came over around 8:30 am for a cup of tea. Claire and Cathy were taking Kayleigh to the airport for her journey back to the UK. She was sad to be leaving, and we were sad as well. We had a wonderful 10 days with her.
Clare and Scott picked up Jack and Millie and took them ice skating. Stuart and I went to do our grocery shopping. Our holidays were coming to an end, so back to normalcy and reality, which meant an actual grocery shopping trip that didn’t include mince pies or chocolates.
Once we were home and I had done two loads of laundry, we headed to Scott and Clare’s. Stuart took his new remote control car, which he had bought at Riverland the previous evening. The kids, Scott and Stuart took the cars to the empty lot next to their house while Clare and I had a chat. Clare actually made dinner and I just sat there. We had lamb for dinner. It was delicious. We were home by 8 pm and the kids were in bed. Cathy came over for a bit and then it was off to bed. Christmas week was wonderful with a lot of fun friend time.
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