Christmas 2015

We spent money and rented a house on the beach in North Carolina. We got here just after 4pm on Christmas Eve, unpacked, and went and peaked at the Ocean even though it was dark. The house is even closer to the beach than I had realized. To my surprise, the kids went right in, in the rain, fully clothed, and most of them still had shoes on. (Lesson learned all subsequent trips to the beach are without shoes). We got back, unpacked some more and rested until dinner. I had bought a frozen lasagna, so that was our Christmas dinner. We did that, tried to read some stories and sing some carols, but the kids were too hyper to really enjoy it or participate, so we gave up and read the Christmas story in Luke 2 and sent the youngest 5 off to bed.

We did not have a Christmas tree, so we just set the wrapped presents and stockings out in the corner. The kids woke us up at 6am. We decided it was best to let Suzy sleep. We had a very small Christmas, since the main present was the vacation. But I think our kids were pleasant and happy about what they received. After my nap and some lego building and new game playing, we took the kids to the beach.

The Beach was quiet. I imagined that we would walk the beach, maybe stick our feet in the water. I thought we would need jackets. But as luck would have it, it's an el nino year, and the East Coast is much warmer than normal, particularly on Christmas. We got to the beach. the sun was warm, the water was warm, the waves were big, the sand was soft and we had as much fun at the beach as we would have had any summer day.

We feel so blessed and happy to be here. Not one day this year has been like any Christmas we have ever had. We did not have the opportunity to enjoy our usual Christmas traditions. But this vacation has been so lovely and just what we needed.