Just when we thought Covid was making its way out of our lives, it made its ugly return and ruined Christmas once again. Can anyone please tell Covid-19 that it’s seriously worse than the Grinch!?
This year, as we prepared to bring the Christmas festivities back in full force with the family and get ready to travel, another positive Covid test came back in our immediate family.
It was upsetting for all of us, but the hardest part about the situation, was telling the kids that we weren’t going to Nana and Papa’s for Christmas anymore. Rylee took it really hard. She was so upset with the situation because she was looking forward to it so much. Looking back, I know so many other families were in the same exact boat, but it was really hard to watch her so upset.
So we decided to make some Christmas magic happen.
I met up with Nana and Papa half way to exchange gifts. Including the stockings, which Rylee was very concerned about. And on the drive home, after a call with my mom, I had the time to snap out of being upset and think about how we were going to turn this holiday around for the kids.
Right when I got home, I explained to the kids that Santa knew exactly where to find them and that we’ll still have a Christmas here at home—including stockings! Then, we baked and decorated some sugary cookies to leave out for him when he came.
They felt so much better after that. We spent the rest of Christmas Eve playing catch outside, going to the park, ordering a nice dinner and watching Elf.
Christmas Day
Before the sun was even up, the kids were running in my room yelling about how Santa came. They were ecstatic and immediately got ready to open their stockings. I sprung out of bed to meet them. We Face-timed with Nana and Papa so we could open presents in our traditional way all together.
It definitely wasn’t the same, especially when we had to stay six feet apart from Brett, but we made the best of it, and the kids were really happy.
We even got our family photo, after I edited Brett into it!
The best presents of the day were these LCD sketch pads. They kept the kids busy for hours, playing all kinds of games they came up with their imagination.
The hoover boards were pretty cool for a little while, but Reece ended up crashing and Rylee’s went berserk for a minute, so the kids were too afraid to ride them. I think we are going to return them for electric scooters, although Reece still thinks they are cool, so we shall see.
It ended up being a great day, and we even got to have our amazing prime rib dinner that night, which I helped cook under Brett’s instruction.
GatorLand
It was pretty low key after Christmas, as the kids played with all their new gifts, and we waited for Brett’s negative test to come back, which didn’t happen until Monday. By then we were so ready to get out of the house. We decided to take a trip out to GatorLand, which I had never been to before, and we had such a blast.
It is so much bigger than I thought it was. And so were the gators!
The kids even got to feed some of the baby gators, which was so much fun. They are definitely a bit more active then the larger ones, so it was really neat to watch.
And they saw all kinds of other animals, too. It was such a beautiful day to be outside.
My favorite part of the trip was the Aviary, where the little birds come right up to you to eat. It was amazing and the kids loved it.
There is still so much we want to do there so we will definitely be back—including the Swamp Buggy Monster Truck tour.
It was a great way to cap off the holiday. The kids have another week off for Winter Break, and after everyone was tested negative, Nana and Papa came to take them for a few days, so it all worked out. And Santa left a little something, something for me that must of got left in his sleigh…..
Mama is happy! (Brett was finally able to pick up my Christmas present and I found it Tuesday morning waiting for me. I am so excited to make lattes and cappuccinos at home with this Kuerig machine!)
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, no matter what happened with Covid, as long as you were able to make the best of it and stay positive. There is always next year!
Awesome recap and Jane you did a fabulous job all around..