"Itʻs here! Itʻs finally here! Iʻm so excited and so sad....sad because it means it is almost over." -Kate
Roxy let the kids enthusiastically dress her as a reindeer and Santa over and over again on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas Eve Eve (I refuse to call it Christmas Adam because why are we giving men more "holidays"?), Kate had spelling bee practice at the school for 3 hours. Zac and Brady were in Oahu. I asked Owen what adventure heʻd like to do of everything he could think of and he begged for tide pooling. Off we went to find tiny snails, itty bitty fish, plenty of huge rocks and sea cucumbers, and even a few big crabs.
That afternoon, we charged to the west side to meet the Smiths for surf at Pakalas. Kate has never surfed there and was anxious and excited to give it a try. Sheʻs heard (valid) shark stories about Pakalas and its murky waters, so her heart was pounding along this gorgeous path to the water.
It was a chilly, sunny afternoon. I took a couple indulgent selfies because the lighting and clouds were stunning.
Pakalas turned out to be ultra-shallow that day. Almost everyone ended up bloody from the reef. It is an easy, left ride that goes for ages, but not quite as enjoyable when you face-plant on jagged rock. The girls took dozens of waves, I had a fun 20-minute turn, and even Owen rode 6 waves to shore for a pack of bubble gum! Iʻm not sure how easy it will be to convince them to try again.
Christmas Eve was on a Friday this year and as always, we caught Santa paddling into shore.
It was so cold that day but I went to First Break for a couple hours and surfed my heart out. Thanks, Brady!
We hosted Christmas Eve Dinner with the Stebbins. Ham, tri tip, au gratin potatoes, Christmas salad with pomegranates and apple pears, rolls, cheese ball, and of course Martinellis for Zachary and Caleb. We finished off with mint brownies and Mahjinkaʻs perfectly sliced apple pie.
We did a quick rendition of the Nativity, with Shay as angel, Kate as Mary, Ty as donkey, and an assortment of shepherd and wise men boys.
A lot of thought was put into Josephʻs quidditch robe and shepherd Owenʻs combo Yoda/Griffindor outfit. We even had a sheep dog.
It was finally time to open Nicʻs carefully crafted Saran Wrap gift.
Not the most environmentally friendly, but loaded with all sort of goodies.
Payday! The kids laughed and all had a haul.
I finished the night feeling so grateful to be surrounded by all these people I love and with kids who all get along and love each other, too.
Kate and Shay used their own money to exchange gifts. Loved their anticipation, smiles, and giggles.
The Christmas Eve prep was the easiest of all time and Brady and I were in bed by 11:30pm! A Christmas miracle.
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