It was Christmas... kind of

We had some crazy Christmas changes of plan this year. High moments, low moments...

First high moment... my parents decided to ditch the traditional Christmas and cruise us all down to Mexico instead!

Sooooo awesome. There was a small part of me that realized, as the only sibling with children, it was not going to be as relaxing a getaway for me as for the rest (small cabin spaces, lots of places to get injured, nap/bed times) but still. The part that kept getting me giddy excited was the thought of someone preparing my every meal and then taking the dishes from my sight. As a girl who has eaten out very limitedly this year... it sounded just a step below magical.

The very very low moment... our ship caught on fire. Seriously.

Jon gets those little news updates on his phone. And since the guy spends a significant amount of time staring at his nifty little smart phone, we got the news pretty quickly. Jon read me the story of the cruise ship stranded at sea with engines on fire and I knew immediately it was going to be our ship. Of course knowing it was a Carnival ship on our exact same itinerary would have made that obvious to... well anyone. But I knew, deep in my soul knew, that my eating dreams were burning to ash with those dang engines.

Another low moment... they cancelled our cruise and offered us a discount on a future cruise. After a long amount of online searching, it was obvious there would be no Earl Christmas Cruising.

High moment... since all of our plans sent us in the direction of California anyway, we decided to go with it. My dad booked us lovely resorts at Newport Beach for a few days then Palm Desert for the rest of our stay. Assuming those two resorts could manage to keep from going up in flames for the next month, we were set.

Pre-cruise on fire, I had already decided to do Christmas before we left. It was just easier in every way. We kept the plan in motion with our new arrangements. My parents and college aged siblings were going to be at my house for Quinn Baker's wedding so we just went with it.

Good news, if needed, Santa will make extra arrangements and show up at your door on the 18th with presents in tow. So, when dad heard the reindeer flying overheard, we all raced downstairs to our pre-practiced hiding spots. Scarlet cuddled with Grandma under the piano bench and Rhode and I squeezed under the coffee table. I have no idea where everyone else was... my living room is a bit open...

Santa did a great job this year, but I think the early appearance slightly affected his performance. Of course Rhode was being a little noisier than expected. He just wanted to keep telling me he saw Santa and whispering is not his strong point. Santa almost made it out the door before busting into a fit of laughter... almost.

I will get to the Santa gifts in a minute. From the rest of the crew, Scarlet and Rhode received a new sleeping bag and blanket (for all the camping we may eventually be tempted to do...), books, a few bath toys, a singing and dancing Mickey Mouse and a very active Tonka Truck from Grandma Peggy, and a lot of other fun randoms.

And yes, I still buy my kids VHS movies. My dad mocked me to no end, but that is only because his kids were all over the age of 6 when DVDs came out. Say what you will about the VHS. They are cheap and nearly indestructible.

Now, from Santa. Scarlet received a personalized tub full of princess dress up clothes and Rhode received a more manly decorated tub full of boy dress up clothes.

Is that weird to give a 2 year old boy dress up clothes for Christmas? Before you judge, you should realize that Rhode and Scarlet play dress up all. day. long. It is their favorite joint activity. And Rhode's previous favorite get up was this...

Sadly, he was missing the matching sparkly beret. It really completes the ensemble.

**** Side Story ****

My best "Rhode wears girl clothes" story happened just before Christmas. I had a friend over and we were chatting downstairs while the kids dressed up. Rhode came proudly waltzing downstairs moments later wearing one of Scarlet's ballet leotards with a built in skirt.. and heels.

It got better. He turned around to pick up something from the staircase and we were both given the full moon shot underneath that frilly pink skirt. We were both rolling by now trying to figure out how my son was baring full bottom in a leotard. Turns out he had put it on with both legs in one leg hole, squeezing it all the way past his behind.

I so regret the fact that I was laughing way too hard to even think of figuring out where the camera was.

************

Thus you can see the need for some more boy-friendly dress wear.

He also got a fireman (with built in muscles), a ninja, a policeman, and part of a cowboy get up. Thank you post Halloween clearances...

And now, the princess herself.

One of Scarlet's adorable new dance outfits from Grandma Peggy.

She is in heaven. The amount of dress up time in my house had quadrupled. And, for the most part, Rhode sticks with his man costumes. Most of the time...

He is so going to hate me for these someday....