One last homage to the 2023 holidays! We arrived home from Portland the day after Christmas, quickly unpacked then repacked our bags, then headed to the airport early the next morning to catch our flight to Minnesota. Schnell clan, here we come!
We had asked Shane’s parents what they wanted for Christmas and when they said, “Just a hug from our grandkids”, it felt awfully good to respond with, “YOU GOT IT!”. Isaac and Juliette made themselves right at home.
It was a bit too cold to do a lot of playing outdoors, but we managed to get out for a walk to the mailbox on Thursday.
Isaac appreciated the chance to get some wiggles out.
Buddy refused to keep his mittens on and bravely rolled a snowball with his bare hands. He’s tougher than I am!
I was hoping for a fresh couple inches of snow while we were there, but Juliette made do just fine with the dusting that was left from earlier in the week.
The rest of the day was spent rolling matchbox cars up and down Isaac’s makeshift box ramp, baking Grandma’s famous sour cream cookies, and playing cards with Aunt Tiff and Uncle Jason.
The sun came out on Friday and so Isaac and I hopped in the car and drove to the park while Juliette and the other grownups went to see Wonka.
It was a beautiful afternoon, but still frigid, so we did a quick tour of the playground equipment, ran a couple of laps on the lawn, and then bolted back to the car.
We warmed up at Caribou Coffee with a steamer and a latte and I very much enjoyed sitting across the table from Isaac and just taking in his array of facial expressions as he sipped his milk (mmmmm….nommy!) and flipped through his animal flashcards (lion…roooooaaaar!). This felt like one of my first real sit-down dates with my boy and I believe he’s on the way to becoming a pretty respectable cafe companion. Oh, the places we’ll go, Bud.
Back at the Schnell homestead, we walked through Grandpa’s corn field and then the kids took a spin with him in the side-by-side, which Isaac lovingly calls The Tractor.
We eeked out one more Christmas lights visit that night and walked through a display in town, stopping to pet the glittery deer and pose with blinking Santa.
Back at the house, we ate fried chicken and wrapped our arms around Hayden, who had just rolled into town with her boyfriend. Cousins together and it felt so good!
Saturday was wide open – plenty of time for card games and matchbox cars and laying low with loved ones.
And laughing. These three had the giggles.
Shane whupped us at Polish poker. And was not so humble about it.
Juliette stopped laughing!
After much pleading from Isaac, we got out for a family ride in the side-by-side that afternoon. We just went up the street and back, but Isaac treated it like the adventure of a lifetime, grinning throughout.
We made a quick run into town to peruse the toystore – Grandpa had slipped the kids some Christmas money and we picked out a sweet stuffed deer for Isaac and a stuffed fox for Juliette as mementos of the week.
Ok, I thought we were done with lights for the year, but Tiff pitched a visit to another big display outside town and you know I’m a sucker for the twinkle!
Back at the house, we played more games, ate more cookies, and savored our last snuggles.
We got an early(ish) start on Sunday and said our sad goodbyes to Denny and Pat, but then said a happy hello to Shanay near Minneapolis before checking in at the airport.
We’d done a lot of coming and going that week, but Isaac and Juliette were such troopers.
This was Isaac’s best flight yet – he had a snack, ran his orange Hotwheel car up and down my arm for a few minutes, and then crashed out on Juliette’s lap while watching Star Wars.
MADE IT! Happy New Years Eve, folks.
Our NYE evening was quiet – we were tuckered and turned in well before midnight. Felt good to wake up at home on New Years Day, turn on the fireplace, and bust out the train set.
That said, we did have places to be later that morning. These two were polar plunging!
Juliette nearly bailed at the last minute, but I pep-talked her pretty hard and she peeled off her sweatshirt and beanie just as the first folks waded into the freezing water.
Isaac looked on from the shore, intrigued and a little bit concerned.
Wouldn’t be a true polar plunge without a few tears!
I’m sorry she cried, but I’m proud of her for pushing through. You’ve got more gumption than your mama, Juliette Grace!
Isaac asked to go in the water, so I peeled off his shoes and socks so that he could understand this wasn’t really a Maui situation. One toe in, and he got it. “No thank you, Mama!”
For the record, she was quite proud of herself as well.
We’d had rain-checked our family brunch with the Chens and Rusts due to Isaac being under the weather in mid-December, so we gathered after the plunge for our makeup festivities.
After tucking into Nancy’s famous almond torte, the kids did some very serious house-building with gingerbread and frosting.
And then, presents! Always so much laughter and gratitude when we gift-give with this crew. Isaac got to go first, as we went youngest to oldest, and he was thrilled with his squishy dinosaur from the Chens.
No stuffies for these teens…skate shop gift cards and light-up drumsticks it is!
Ahhh…cheers to the coziest of kick-offs to a brand new year.
