An Early Christmas Present
Greetings to all!
Xavier has asked to have a pair of house slippers for some while. The problem has been finding a pair that will fit his feet. As with his clothes, certain things like shoes often are specialty items. Rebecca found a pair and wrapped them.
When some seasonal cold (highs in the twenties and teens) rolled in, Xavier complained of cold feet, even in his socks. We decided to let him open a present early.
Excited to open a gift, though a little pensive as "It's not Christmas, yet" he informed us, he responded with joy at seeing what pulling away the wrapping revealed.
We clipped the tags and plastic threads holding the two slippers together. Xavier tried them on.
They did not go on well; it took some effort and manipulation. Partly because they are new, and partly because the slippers are just on the edge of being too small.
We decided he would break them in and they will last the winter. Upon finishing our assessment, Xavier removed the slippers, returning to his socks and chilled feet.
We asked him why, since he clearly liked his slippers, and told us so.
"Daddy's not wearing his," was his reason. So Dad had to find his slippers and slip them on. Xavier followed suit.
Who Needs Toys When...
Greetings to all.
Xavier's Aunt Kathy's annual box of Christmas goodies arrived on the doorstep today. Inside, the box held Kathy's Christmas card, about ten pounds of homemade fudge, cookies and other seasonal snacks. And, of course, presents, all nicely wrapped.
Xavier was excited to open the box. We have been getting deliveries nearly every other day, most with gifts to be wrapped and placed under the tree.
We opened the box, pulled out the packing materials. We found and read the Christmas card. We unpacked the tins of goodies (which was like opening several nesting dolls, each tin holding goodies and another tin of baked goods). We placed the gifts under the tree.
Xavier, growing board during the sampling of the baked goods phase, got excited about something new. No longer was he excited about the new packages under the tree. He had a box: one he could fit into, close the flaps and hide.
We cut two holes in the side and made a flap to close the holes over. Xavier moved the box all over the house, then hid in it.
We played hide-n-seek. It was not hard to find him; however, we were informed that because the spy holes were closed, we could not see him.
He watched TV in the box. He even held puppet shows for Mom and Dad from within the box, using his stuffed animals as actors.
Later, when Grandpa Danny's box of Christmas goodies arrive in a slightly smaller box, Xavier pushed that emptied box all around the house. It became a vital piece of equipment in a construction project he had going on with his Hot Wheels and other trucks and cars.
Snow Tubing
Greetings to everyone, and Happy Birthday, Rebecca!
Yes, today Rebecca turns forty-four. We spent a great deal of brain power trying to decide how to mark this momentous event. The pat find a sitter and go to dinner just did not feel fun this year. First, no sitters could be found, confirming the previously mentioned feel.
Secondly, Rebecca wanted to make memories, and we thought it might be nice to have the whole family involved. Remembering the tubing hill in Keystone, an idea began to take shape.
Three things hindered the plans. The first being the gondola ride to the tubing hill: would Xavier be able to board the moving car, or would he freak out.
The tubing hill had a height restriction of 42 inches or taller. Xavier fell short by three inches, and research showed Keystone did not cut any slack on this number.
There was not a lot of snow. Keystone boasted 24 inches, and with the small storm last Friday, now 25 inches.
It was looking doubtful unless we drove much further into the mountains, which no one wanted to do.
Keystone, we remembered, has another area called the Nordic Center. We read up on it. Tubing hill with no height limit, tubes rented by the hour, enough snow to make the trip worth it, and no gondola car to manage. The biggest hindrance was no conveyor belt to get you back up the hill; it was all foot work.
We loaded up the car with winter gear, stopped at Village Inn for breakfast, put in A Bug's Life into the car's DVD player, then headed up I-70.
Traffic was light going up, and not a big crowd on the mountain. In fact, there was no crowd, so the tubes we rented were for all day at the two hour rental rate.
We got to the Nordic Center expecting a crowd. There was none; only three or four other families. Xavier and Mom made the first run, followed by Dad. Xavier huffed his own tube up the hill twice before learning he could jump into one of the tubes Mom or Dad were dragging back up the hill.
Though there was not much snow—exposed grass at the top of the run—there was enough for a lot of fun. Xavier went down on his own more times than not. We even tied the two tubes together a few times and went down the hill in "doubles." Once we even did a family three-on-one tube run.
We spent almost two hours on the hill, for about a dozen or more runs for each of us. After, we found a restaurant for lunch, then headed down the hill back to Denver. Again, no traffic worth mentioning. Xavier was thoroughly tired. Unfortunately, we woke him up too soon (he only had 20 minutes) and it was a bear to get him to sleep tonight!