We had a very memorable time in Chicago. Our first day was a whopping -6 degree outside, and yes folks that was the high. It warmed up a little the second day as it was 0 degrees. This was hard on the kids and Adam because they could see wonderful white snow on the ground but they could not play in it. By the third day it was 22 degrees and the kids bundled up and headed out to the fresh powder of snow on the ground. We only stayed out for 30 mins. or so, but the kids had a blast.
It is our family tradition to make sugar cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. We have a lot of family out of state, and I thought this would be a great tradition for the kids and I to start since everyone owns an oven. Lindsay really had fun making the cookies this year, but Zachary wanted to play with his cousin, C.J., instead. At one point I think I had said something like, "now we are making cookies for Santa and you are going to have fun doing it."
Christmas morning was a riot. This may be a little much, but I don't care. Every year I like to go to Children's Place and get the kids matching outfits for Christmas, and every year Adam makes a big deal because he thinks the kids should open their gifts in their jammies. Well, this year they opened their stockings in their jammies and then we headed upstairs to change into their nice outfits. The kids looked adorable and well dressed when they opened their gifts from Santa. Lindsay got a purple baby doll that she wanted and Zachary got a new train set that he wanted. After the kids opened Santa's presents we took a break and ate a delicious brunch that Debbie had made. Then, we went back to the living room to open more presents with Debbie's kids, their spouses, and Debbie's parents. It was a full room, but I wouldn't celebrate Christmas any other way.
Our Christmas vacation is over and we are all packed to head back home. I am amazed that Adam was able to get all of the packages in the car. However, at 11:00 p.m. Zachary headed into our room and mentioned to Adam that he had thrown up in bed. Oh no, this was a big mess. We thought maybe it was something he ate or maybe he just had one too many cookies that evening. However, the vomiting lasted all night. We were supposed to leave at 4:00 in the morning, but I could put our sick kid in the car. Adam had to get back to work and Becca had to take Brandon to the doctors to get new casts the next day. We new we had to do something. We decided to wait it out and by 11:00 a.m. Zachary was doing a lot better. It truly amazes me how kids bounce back so quickly after being so sick. We loaded the four kids, three adults, and two dogs in the car at 12:30. I was still a little nervous because I did not want to clean up vomit in the car. We had beautiful weather driving home that day and everybody remained healthy in the car. We arrived home at 3:30 in the morning exhausted and ready for our beds.
