Christmas 2020

A blog post brought to you by the one and only Alex McCoy! Alex is much more wordy than I am :)

Christmas Eve at Phil's

Christmas Eve brought some truly baffling weather. The day's high was a balmy 60 F (just after midnight) before the temperature plummeted throughout the day. By the time Santa took to the skies it was in the 20s.

Quentin only slept the last 10 minutes of the car ride to Phil's in Mardella Springs, but happily he stayed asleep in the car seat for 1 1/2 more hours. This year, Benjamin and Bethany did Christmas Eve at her family's gathering so it was just us. After Quentin woke up he proceeded to maniacally toddle around the whole house, finding treasures to play with.

This was the first time at Phil's during which Quentin realized there's a whole, weird house to explore. And explore he did. Sam, a very lucky boy, has been showered with all the coolest toys and Quentin is able to make use of the flotsam. His favorites include a toy vacuum cleaner and a rubber duck toy. He also got lots of mileage out of some color puff balls and a tiny chair.

Carissa, Logan, and Emma joined the party in the evening, for which Phil and Angie prepared a fondue dinner. Quentin, by this point, was delirious with fatigue and, as such, was wildly entertaining. He crammed down fistfuls of broccoli between bouts of manic babbling and noodle arming.

After Quentin retired we diverted ourselves by pelting Sam with giant inflatable beach balls while he shrieked and bounced off the walls and furniture. A Christmas Eve well spent.

Christmas Morning

The three of us (and Ava) managed a marathon sleep and woke up at 7 AM ready to have Christmas. The weather had fully turned by this point; overnight the winds overturned the Bowman chicken coop and the yard was a frigid, soupy swamp.

Sam bounded downstairs and tore through his presents with frenetic, childhood abandon. Quentin is still somewhat nonplussed by wrapped gifts and quietly occupied himself with his vacuum cleaner, toy duck, and puff balls.

Phil made Quentin a precious wooden kangaroo, which will haltingly hop its way down an incline.

There was also large blue car which I had to tetris into the back of the Saab for the trip to Easton.

We said our goodbyes and packed a sleepy Quentin into the carseat for the trip. We were delighted to drive through snow flurries - a rare event on the Eastern Shore.

Christmas Afternoon at Carol's

We arrived at Carol's at lunchtime; Quentin woke up immediately so we knew an afternoon nap was in order. The four of us took a long, chilly walk through Easton. Ethan later joined the group and played with Quentin endlessly. For dinner, Alex made a lasagna which was fantastic. After dinner we all retired to the couch and relaxed for a bit before heading home.

Christmas at Home

OK, Christina is taking back over here. So on the day after xmas, we got to wake up in our own beds which was so nice. We tidied the house up a bit in preparation for Xmas part 3!

I had received a game which you put inflated antlers on your head and try to throw rings on them. Alex and Kelly got to test out the game. What fun!

Q, Oona, and Brock had fun exploring the house together. Here is Q showing them his beloved learning tower!

Q also got to share with them his many books.

We had some of the left over lasagna along with some wonderful side dishes that everyone else made.

What a fun Christmas!