Christmas Eve began well. The boys were up about 8am, and I realized I had left my spare insulin at my dads. I now needed it. Paul and I left the boys with my mum and Lee, and headed back to Aldershot to pick it up. On the way back we stopped at Marks and Spencer's for a coffee and to have a little look. I couldn't find anything for myself, but typically found some clothes for Oliver.
We arrived back at my mums for lunch time, so headed in to Wokingham for some lunch. We had a delightful meal at Cafe Rouge. This is in an old building which used to be a pub. It was very nice. We have noticed how much easier it seems to be to take kids out to eat in this country. It may have always been like this, and we were not aware, or things have changed that much in the last 15 months, or we are used to how it works having lived in the land of dining out.....
The boys went to bed usual time on Christmas Eve. It took them all a while to settle though.... We wrapped the last of the presents and settled down to sleep.
Luckily for the boys, Father Christmas remembered that they were in the UK (despite them forgetting to leave out milk cookies and carrots), and delivered their stockings. The rest of their presents are waiting in the US. For the first time the boys had presents from us. Sebastian got a leap pad ultra, which he absolutely loves, despite paul and I having reservations.
Isaac and Oliver both got kindle fire HDs with kid proof covers. Again, they love these and have great fun playing the apps and games. We have not set any time limits on them (you can set time limits for games, apps, videos and leave books unlimited), but we fully intend to do so when we get back to the US.
We travelled mid morning from my mums to the Goslings. Due to the rubbish weather (wind and rain), there were a few routes that were flooded with roads closed so we had to take a few detours. We also had to drive through quite a few big puddles. Our super happy fun bus hire car seems to be doing us well. We reached the Goslings early afternoon, and the boys opened their presents. They were very happy with what they received. We had a delicious lunch, then the boys spent the afternoon playing with their presents. We had to put Seb to bed about 7, as he was very tired, which meant he missed the arrival of auntie jenny, Tariq and Natalie. The adults had decided in the afternoon we would save our presents till the evening, a first for us. Oliver and Isaac were very happy to see jenny and Tariq, and of course their presents. Everyone liked all their presents, which was a very good thing!
We got rid of the boys by about 9.30. And then the fun began. Our tent had been constructed in the back garden, for tony and Natalie to sleep in, save them being woken by the boys in the morning (they would have slept in the living room otherwise). Keith and Tariq got a fire going in the BBQ, so we all headed out side. It was cold, but the heat of the fire helped take the edge off. We spent plenty of time outside drinking, chatting, catching up.
We called it a night about 12.30. The boys awoke about 8 again on Boxing Day. Tony and Natalie had slept well outside, despite the cold, they had plenty of blankets and appreciated not being woken in the morning. They headed off for Natalie's family party, a Boxing Day tradition. We decided to go for a mcdonalds (our Boxing Day tradition) in Oxford. We also had to buy a new ready bed for Isaac, as his had gone down in the night. This was our first trip to Argos in about 2 years. We quickly remembered why..... We got a new readybed and the Guess Who game for a bargain price. The roads seemed quiet, so we went for a drive around Oxford. It always strikes me how beautiful the city is, even at ground level. The boys even seemed to enjoy hearing about daddy growing up there. As the roads were so quiet, we were able to go round it, and back to the Goslings in 45 minutes.
As everyone had a heavy night the night before, early nights were had by all. I went to bed about an hour before Paul, but only after having a nice catch up with jenny and Tariq and hearing how their year had been and their plans for the coming year.
We left fairly early the next day and traveled back to my dads, where the boys had yet more presents to open. Again they were pleased with what they got, despite me making a big mix up with the lego, meaning they received duplicate sets. Luckily my dad found the receipt. The boys were very happy once they realized a trip to Toys r Us was on the cards. They spent the evening watching tv, and playing their devices. They went to bed at a fairly early time, ready for a trip to the coast the next day.....
Do you like their Christmas jumpers? The elf left them when he returned to help Father Christmas.
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