Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Health and Happiness- Two Best Gifts of All

Most readers of this blog entry will be bored to death- feel free to skip. But since I do not keep any other sort of journal, I wanted some way to remember what a wonderful winter break I had with my family.
On Christmas Eve, Grammy outdid herself with a Christmas Extravaganza. First we enjoyed a feast that included lasagna, salad, garlic bread, scallops, chicken, shrimp and much more. All of the important Christmas characters visited, including Cindy Lou Who, The Grinch, Mrs. Claus, Buddy the Elf and OldMacDubbels farmers. Dessert was our Jesus Birthday Cake when we sang happy birthday to him.
When we got home, Laurel and Owen quickly got ready for sleep so that Santa could arrive. Owen just couldn’t fall asleep. He kept thinking that he heard the hooves of the reindeer on the roof. Finally- after 11:30, he fell asleep to The Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon album. At 4:45 he came up to tell me Santa had arrived. I told him he needed to go back to bed. At seven Laurel awoke to report reindeer prints in the snow from the “reindeer food” we left out. She exclaimed, “Santa really is real. I can’t believe it.” In 30 minutes the months of shopping and wrapping were over. I think the bakugan were the biggest hit.
Justin really surprised me with my most exciting gift ever- He got me a kindle. I know most people are reading this and saying- What is a kindle? Go ahead and Google- but for me it was the most generous, thoughtful and perfect gift and it seemed to be received better than the 100% PAIN hot sauce that I got Justin.
We headed over to Nana’s house. She did her Yankee Gift Exchange. Owen eagerly traded the oven mitt that he had opened for the chocolate bar that Uncle Brad had gotten. We had a great time visiting with family at nana’s house and then going over to see Grandpa David, Grandpa Murray and Grandma Stella.
We went on a one night family trip to the Tropicana in Atlantic City. While daddy played poker, Laurel, Owen and Mommy enjoyed the pool, a walk on the boardwalk to the Candy Store and Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum and then we met up with Daddy for lunch at one of our favorite Irish Restaurants.
New Year’s Eve was just the way I like it- home and quiet. Laurel and I went to the store for essential treats like chips and dip and Ritz crackers and cheese and wings. Then we came home and watched Fred Claus. I think I was sleeping by 10:30!
The next day I had a wonderful spa day with my book club and then we went out to dinner. Our break ended with an amazing outing to NYC. Nana bought Laurel and Owen tickets to Shrek the Musical. This was Owen’s first Broadway show. We had a fun lunch with family, went to the show and came home to have dinner with friends.
All in all, our break was filled with a perfect mix of relaxing and enjoying each other. Here’s hoping 2009 will continue to bless the Robbins’ house with love, health and happiness.