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| Chris & Kel's tree |
We have found that 2 AM is the magic time. By leaving this early, we miss the usually heavy, commuter traffic spots at Jacksonville, Richmond, and DC, whether we are traveling north or south. We also usually get to our destination between 6 and 7 pm. We listen to Audible books, which makes the time in the car much more tolerable. Yes, we do stop for breaks, food and to stretch.
Today, we had no delays. Traffic moved well. We were at Chis and Kel's by 6:30 PM. Kel made her delicious, one-pan, oven roasted Italian chicken, potatoes and string beans. YUM!
Needless to say, Hadi and Riley are both excited with Christmas just 3 days away. Once they calmed down and headed for bed, we follow their lead about a half hour later.
Monday, 12/23/19 ~ Chris and Kel had work today. The girls were spending the day at Kel's Mom for the day with some of the other grand kids.
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| Ryder watching from his new favorite spot! |
Once back at the Manor House, we wished Mom a Merry Christmas again and said our good-bys. She was tired and we had a 2 hour trip back to PA.
Tuesday, 12/24/19 ~ Hadi, Riley and I made the Pineapple Bread Pudding that Pete and I took with us up to my sister, Deneen's. We made a triple portion knowing that Deneen's husband, Joe's family will also be joining ours. They are all good eaters. The continuing comment between Pete and Joe and us wives is: Will it be a "Steiner portion" (skinny) or a "Murawinski portion" (restaurant sized)?
Chris, Kel and the Girls headed to Kel's Dad's for Christmas Eve with family, while Pete. Bailey and I headed to NW Jersey to Deneen's. It was a beautiful ride up through the mountains, then across the Delaware Gap & River. There was even some snow on the north side of the mountains that the sun couldn't warm.
Bailey had no reservations about being back here, which was good. That meant that she enjoyed her 3 month stay with Deneen, Joe, Shelby, Julia and their dog, Lizzie. Shortly after our arrival, Joe's Mom, 2 brothers and their families arrived. My Mom, Deb, her twins, her son, Jason, Ashley and their son, Eli rounded out the group of 22. The only one who couldn't make it was Joe's sister Aggie, who was under the weather. We miss you, Aggie! Feel better soon!
Dinner was outrageously good. There some leftovers, but the Pineapple Bread Pudding was gone. The cake from Palisades Park Bakery, as usual, was also a hit. It was a great visit and we finally left around 9:30.
Longwood Gardens and downtown Kennett Square ~
We didn't get back until 12:30 AM. Hurry to get to bed as the girls won't sleep late in the morning.
Wednesday, 12/25/19 ~ The girls were up around 6, and against their Mom & Dad's orders NOT to go down, they did sneak down to check to see if Santa came. They returned to stage whisper until everyone was up by 7.
Santa wanted to make sure that each child got all the toys that Santa's Elves made for them. So, he wrapped his gifts in specific wrapping paper just for Hadi, just for Riley and placed them in specific piles. Santa also counted to make sure that each of the girls got the same amount of gifts to open. Once they started, shouts, screams, and "Look!" filled the family room. Hadi flew through the opening. She was done in less than 5 minutes. Riley took a full 20. One of Santa's gifts to Riley was a hand blown chicken ornament. (Riley nickname is the "free range chicken" while Hadi is the "climbing monkey.") Riley promptly announced "This isn't a toy! Santa only brings toys!" Even with this small glitch, the girls loved Santa's toys.
Heather soon arrived and it was time for the rest of the presents to be opened. While they were being opened, I made 2 Quiches for breakfast while the chaos continued. Thankfully, the kitchen and family room are a great room and I was able to still see everything.
Around noon, Greg and Jenn arrived in a very audible fashion. They had their car worked on so now "Belle" growled as she arrived. It was now time for the adults to share gifts. Heather made everyone crocheted Afghans. Chris and Kel's is shades of grey, Jenn and Greg's is Navy and blues, our's is blue and aqua, while the girls have multicolored mixed with purple or pink. Beautiful, warm, ultra soft and cozy!
Kel's family: Kel's mom, Sandy, her husband, Dan, and her uncle, along with Kyle, Amy and their 3: Kylie, Carter and Cammie. Presents were exchanged and a dinner buffet was set up.
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| Rubble & Chris |
By 9, everyone had left except Pete and I. The girls were beginning to crash and burn. We sat and talked a short while before heading up, too!
Merry Christmas to All!
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| Sunset over Kennett Square |
Once back, the girls convinced us to watch Toy Story 4 with them. Just like the others, it was very well done. Chris and Kel took advantage to pack. They will be heading up to the cabin tomorrow for the weekend, after Kel's morning appointment. We are staying to watch Rubble as they couldn't get boarding for him due to the holidays.
Friday, 12/27/19 ~ The crew headed out around 1 for the weekend. Since we now had some unexpected time on our hands, we decided to do some window shopping for cars. My station wagon is 10 years old and has 160,000 miles. She has been a great car, but age is catching up. Now is the time for research so when the time comes we can easily make a decision.
We have been talking about it for a while and decided that we would like to go with a certified, pre-owned SUV that offers a quiet and comfortable ride, more rear leg room, slightly more storage and gets decent mileage. I actually filled both sides of a sheet with hand written notes on most of the SUVs on the market. I had Consumer Report's listing of the vehicles' reviews from 2013 to 2019, as well as Pro's and Con's as reviewed by Edmonds and Car and Driver. We were able to knock a number of vehicles off the list based on the findings.
Based on our research, we headed up Rt, 202 in West Chester to visit various dealer car lots. . . just to peruse. Well, you know what happened. . . We came home with a different car. At the first place we stopped, we found a gently used, well appointed SUV, with a lot less miles that the wagon, and for a very good price. We did the paper work, shook hands, transferred our stuff from the wagon into the SUV (which was a lot more than we thought), put on temp tags and headed home.
It was after 7. The dealer was closed, the dogs needed to be walked and fed, we needed to be feed, and, since their shop was also closed, we were invited to return tomorrow so that the detailing could be finished.
We drove home in this beautiful, comfortable, roomier and quieter vehicle, amazed, with no regrets and not missing the wagon!
Saturday, 12/28/19 ~ After the dogs were fed and let out and we ate our breakfast, we headed back to the dealer to have the detailing completed. We also mentioned that last night we noticed the headlights were misaligned and the cargo area cover was missing. "No Problem." We sat in comfortable chairs while everything was taken care of.
On the way home we stopped by Wawa for sandwiches for dinner. Once back, we binged on most of Season 3 of Stranger Things. It is really a great series, but we need great internet to watch it. I wish we had completed the last 3 episodes. I don't know if we will be able to finish the series tomorrow before the crew returns.
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