And So That Was Christmas…

Phew! Christmas, holidays, family, food (so much food), gift giving and receiving, wrapping paper explosions, bon bons, slip and slide, beach, New Years, swimming, fireworks, cousins galore… and a thousand photos.

We pretty much have the same Christmas routine down pat now: Christmas Eve spent at my mums (even though it’s basically next door, Santa knows Grandi’s chimney best!) Mass, drinks and tunes out the front watching the sunset, Christmas carols and carrots for the reindeer, excitable nieces waiting for Santa and tired parents realising they have to put said excitable children to bed before their night really begins…

And he came! Santa did not disappoint. Eleanor’s hessian sack was full, and much to my surprise she was fairly interested in opening presents (at opportune times), I think watching her excited big cousins helped her ‘get it’. We tried not to overwhelm her with presents and excitement though, our placid blossom gets upset at excitement at the best of times! Her wooden tractor and books were hits though. Good one Santa.

My sister-in-law put on a fabulous spread for brunch – crayfish and champagne and fresh fruit and pastries and a trampoline! The traditional lunch was had back over the hill at Grandi’s, with no less than three cooked meats (turkey, pork and ham), and of course washed down with Grandi’s plum pudding and blow-your-socks-off brandy cream.

After lunch most of us can’t move…except the kids who burn off some Christmas crazies on the slip and slide in the backyard. This year’s Christmas Day was a scorcher of 37 degrees, usually we have the fire going Christmas Eve!

But move we must post-lunch, down to Matt’s family by the sea at Inverloch for Christmas 2.0. It’s all pretty loose by the time we get down there, pickings for dinner and nudie toddlers in plastic tubs on the deck, followed by a few very slow relaxing days with cousins, food, and not much else.

We’re full to the very brim – with food, most definitely – but also with lovely time with lovely people, our family and little people, togetherness and sharing and giving and being. It really is the most wonderful time of the year, and I quite enjoy switching off and doing not much else but eating leftover ham and telling the occasion bon bon joke. Perfect.

I hope your Christmas was spent with good food, good people and not much else. Is there much else to bother with in life? Probably not. We’re taking a little break camping with friends now, I’ll catch you on the flip side. Happy New Year to you and yours, 2016 is going to be a cracker!