We are back from Michigan and we had a terrific time. BUT it wasn’t our usual winter vacation. For starters:
In the past two years we have had a winter wonderland of fluffy flakes. I mean really. Lotsa snow! See?
This year it was like a crisp autumn day. A bite to the air, but lots of sunshine. Not bad really. But still….we wanted to walk on the lake. We wanted to wear our snow boots. We wanted snow.
I have to say it was kind of a hilarious Comedy of Errors this holiday. We had an amazingly wonderful time, but I gotta tell ya folks, we had SO many calamities happen too. Here’s a little taste of our crazy holidaze:
1) Much to our dismay, Wolfie was extremely sick right before we left—high fever and just not himself. That’s him up there. And before you think I spend my days taking photos of my sick boy, we were waiting at the doctor’s office and I said “Oh Wolfie your little cheeks are so flushed!” and he said “Take a picture and put it on Instagram so everyone can see.” haha. Ahh, the modern child. So anyway, we went to the doctor to check him out and they said that on the plus side it wasn’t strep or an ear infection, but on the down side it would just have to work its way through his system. No fun flying with a listless kiddo. Wolfie was a champ and did really well. He had a bit of a relapse once we were in Michigan that had us all crossing fingers for a healthy boy by the time Christmas Eve rolled around.  2) Because airline tickets are so expensive these days, I agreed to take on a freelance project for three days over the holidays. BAD idea. Who wants to work on vacation?? I love the client, which is partly why I said yes. But still. It was pretty rough having to hunker down at Starbucks while the family was out having fun. Sigh. [cue: Donna Summer’s She Works Hard for the Money]  3) When I finally finished work, Greg and I went out on an afternoon date alone. Thrifting! I was so excited. Until while walking out of a shop, I didn’t see this cracked step and twisted my ankle, collapsing in a heap of pain and biting back tears. Friends, I was a MESS. I couldn’t stand. My right knee was ripped open and bloody. My left ankle swollen. Horrible! Greg wanted to take me home but I was so embarrassed/annoyed/sad I said “I am NOT going to let this ruin our day!” So we bought some bandages and an ankle brace and I hobbled around the thrifts anyway (having a blast too). Greg threatened to buy me a hot pink granny cane at the Rite Aid, which I semi considered.
Thrifting was so fun and Greg and I always love our drives around the lake side. But the craziness wasn’t over because 4) At 3 am that night my cell phone rings. It’s our alarm company telling us that the burglar alarm/motion sensor at our house is going off. AHHHHH! Seriously?? It was awful. We kind of deduced it was *probably* the cats. But we weren’t sure. Our super kind neighbors were feeding the kitties and we called them the next day and got it all sorted out. Stressy! 5) The heat in my parents house died. Thank goodness it wasn’t the snowy cold winter we were dreaming of because it wasn’t too bad. But just another thing to worry about. In another stroke of luck, the repair man was at a house in the area so he scooted on over and fixed it, and didn’t charge us for the house call since he was out there anyway. Holiday Spirit lives! Despite all my tales of woe, we really had a fantastic time and everything turned out well. With calamities behind us, let’s get to Christmas!
We found a giant “Santa’s Mailbox” in the sweet little downtown and Wolfie knew he had to get in one last letter to Santa with a plea for a Nintendo 3DS. As he was mailing it, the town clock chimes starting ringing—playing carols. It was so charming and awesome.
That night was Christmas Eve and we read Twas the Night Before Christmas, had an awesome dinner buffet and then sang Christmas carols. (Wolfie’s pick? Twelve Days of Christmas. Which is officially the longest christmas song EVER!!!)
My younger brother Karl was visiting too and Wolfie totally adores him….Karl makes Wolfie laugh like no one else, and watching them make cookies for Santa was the sweetest thing. Wolfie wrote his note to Santa and as per tradition, he left him chips (because he worries Santa might be like him and not really like cookies) and a cup of ice cubes for the reindeer (“because they will be very thirsty mama!”).
Christmas morning is always amazing. Wolfie gets that thrilled look of wonder at ALLLLL the presents under the tree. We hid his very last present which was a Nintendo 3DS that he has been *dying* for. That was his “big” prezzie. He shrieked with happiness….”I knew it! I knew it!! He knew!!” haha. He also got smaller things like Pokemon softies, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, a stuffed animal with a big “W” on his belly and a sweet photo album filled with pictures from our vacation in Hawaii (which he really loved!).
My mom surprised me with several really thoughtful/cool gifts. She reads Modern Kiddo and has been scoping out my Friday Link Hootenanny posts and got me a few things from there! Including that sweet camera up there, a dress from Bonnie and Buttermilk AND she hand crocheted that awesome zig zag throw that I featured in my Missoni post! I was so touched. She’s the best!
My favorite part of vacation is always the relaxing, reading (I’m reading the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray which is an awesome YA book about a spooky boarding school in 1875. The first book is called A Great and Terrible Beauty which sounds “meh” but trust me, it’s awesome!) and movie watching (Hugo: TWO THUMBS WAY UP!! It’s so good. We Bought a Zoo: THUMBS DOWN. Not a holiday film. It’s being marketing totally wrong. I was expecting a fun-filled family film and it’s very heavy for littles and over-acted and cheesey).
On our very last day, we woke up to this:
Hurray! It was so pretty and we were happy. We got our white christmas afterall.
All in all it was a terrific holiday. I hope you guys had an amazing one too!
hi, you’re pretty. and i think it’s lucky that you got snow. i was in, a-hem, seventy five degree weather the whole time. looks magical! i’m sad christmas is over!!
you are too sweet…..i’d love to be in 75 degree weather right now!!
I love that picture of Wolfie and Greg in ginghams! Which is kinda funny because I was just thinking of doing a photo shoot with all of us in gingham. Just cuz!
I’m soo glad you go snow. Hurrah!
i looove that green coat alix!
wolfie is THEE cutest kid on the planet. i know he’s big and probably would not want to be called cute but he is and to me he is still teeny. love the matching shirts with pops.
also, your mom totally rocks.
The coat is OLD NAVY baby! (i added the furry fluffer thang).
I think Wolfie is the cutest too but I’m biased! He doesn’t mind being called cute still….fingers crossed it will still be ok next year!!!!! I’m not ready for him to be a big boy yet. Sigh.
xo
Oh duh. I didn’t post a photo of the coat with the furry collar. You must think I’m crazy….haha
And THAT is how you do a blog post. That was fun to read and great photos. Your mom has some killer furniture, your son is a handsome little guy and looks SO much like you (from what I can see here), and I have that exact same Christmas Carol book and have been playing it on the piano all season. From when I was, like, eight or something!
So glad you got snow, too. Snow is like a dream for this east coast transplant at this point!
aw thank you! wolfie and i have the same eyes…..and he has his dad’s leggy build. his crazy grin is all his own! haha
ahaha, i have that vintage better homes and gardens hot handyman book! it has pride of place in our bathroom.