Christmas Season:15 Lessons Learned

Dear Nathan and Hannah, 

For the past (almost) 2 weeks, we've been spending some time with family up in Illinois. Both of you experienced a lot of new things and are starting to understand how magical Christmas time can really be. But since your meta-cognitive skills are not quite developed just yet, let me go through some of the lessons that you guys have learned along this trip. 

1. Food always taste better when delivered via train. You normally don't eat burgers, but this experience helped you to find out that you, indeed, like burgers..at least ones with bacon. This restaurant really should have veggies on their menu. Think of all the carnivores and goldfish cracker-o-vores that can possibly convert to join the team of omnivores. 

 2. When you call the North Pole, you won't get to speak directly to Santa. No matter how cute you look on the screen, Santa is simply too busy. Better make your request in writing. We had a fun time at the awesome Kohl's Children museum. 

 3. Sea salamanders also put up Christmas lights. They decorate with tetra fish. I actually don't remember whether or not it's a salamander or a lizard, or some other amphibian, but we saw this at the Shedd Aquarium.

 4. Poop Scat, is best examined far away with binoculars. We went on a nature hike through a forest preserve to learn tips on how to track animals. This was the day before Christmas Eve. You can even see the little hairs.

5. Your eyes may burn a bit if you get too close to a fire. Deliciousness doesn't have to come at a price. Just step back, and your marshmallow (not you) will be golden. 

 Hannah simply turns away from it, avoiding the danger completely.

6. If the person next to you is wearing protective hockey gear and they are bigger than you, you may want to stay away. 

7. Great-grandparents aren't really that scary at all. They are super nice. C'mon, do they look like they would bite? We also visited great grandpa and great grandma at their retirement home. All of their friends were super nice too! And the food, Amazing! Which leads me to another lesson, grannies and grandpas know how to eat good food. A  trip to the greats will guarantee that you are fed, and fed well.

8. Your band members may not like it too much when you just take a cookie break in the middle of a song. C'mon, when you play the jingle bells, you kinda are a big deal.

Now, that's more like it. 

 9. Santa likes cookies, but he always leaves a crumb. His reindeer like apples. Core and all. They left no crumbs behind.

10. You will be asked to pose for pictures a lot. Just smile, and sit still. It'll make things go

11. You can find presents in big "socks." Those are called stockings. And no, Daddy does not have socks that big.

12. A piano playing snowman can almost... and I stress almost, substitute for formal piano lessons. Nathan informed me that he now knows how to play the piano after watching Frosty do it a couple of times.

13. And as fun as white elephant gift exchanges are, you don't get to open all of the presents. 

 And the biggest box, doesn't necessarily mean the best gift. (Even if it is wrapped in very cool snowman wrapping paper) Be like me, I picked out the smallest gift in the pile and ended up with a super useful tin of emergency underpants. Let this be a lesson.

14. Ice skating is waaay harder than it looks. 'Nuff said.

15. A wall works great as a breaking mechanism when riding your bike around the house. Your excuse: "I stopped so that you can take a picture of me."

When we got home from the airport we didn't see the bike by the fireplace because this year, we put the Christmas tree upstairs. When we went upstairs, you saw the bike and said, "Santa left his bike here..." and with a moment's pause, your eyes lit up and you exclaimed, "It's a bike for me, it's my bike!"

Well, that's it for now. I just had to get these posted since I've missed 2 weeks worth of letters. I'll probably combine a post with just pictures to share later.

I love you both so much and enjoyed celebrating Christmas with you guys.

Love,
Mommy