Packing it in

The holidays are mercifully over.

I've always liked Christmas. I like finding just the perfect present for people. I don't always succeed, but I enjoy trying. And sometimes I'm surprised when something I was excited about goes over like a lead balloon or something I gave little thought to is the giftee's favorite thing. I like the cookies. I like our big family breakfast. I like having a sparkly tree in my living room. I love having all the kids here, cousins and all.

I'm so glad it's all done. The holidays were difficult and awkward this year, despite all the things I still loved about them. I never got the icicle lights on the house. I'm too scared of the high peak above the garage. I didn't make truffles. But I did just about everything else, and then some. I didn't make it to yoga. I didn't make it to pilates. I made it out for one very short hike. I didn't fare too well.

I got a lot of sleep after the holidays. Then I finally made it to a pilates class and hired babysitters so I could spend some time at work. Things started looking up enough that I managed to make a fun last day of vacation with the kids. Starting with...

pancakes, of course. There's nothing my kids like better for breakfast. They won't even go out for pancakes if Mom's pancakes are an option. I'm very flattered. And now that I have a griddle built right into my range, I'm totally loving it.

Mam does not, however, like to be photographed while eating said pancakes.

After breakfast, I promised to take the kids ice skating. We have a really cute little outdoor rink that's pretty local, but it's open for only two hours in the afternoon for people who aren't taking lessons. I opted instead for the seasonal rink in our nearby "big city".

It's sponsored by Kristi Yamaguchi and Hawaiian Airlines, so I guess it's required that the rink be under the palm trees.

Friday was "Aloha Friday" and we got in cheap for wearing Hawaiian clothes. I'm so darned cheap, I actually went by Diddams and bought the kids leis to wear. We looked pretty silly out there ice skating in our "Hawaiian" duds and long underwear, but we had fun anyway.

Smunch may have complained bitterly about his skates being hard to skate in. He said he'd never had hockey skates before. But it's amazing how long children can be entertained by skating around in circles. It's California. It got kind of warm, the rink got pretty watery and Mam ended up very wet, but she still didn't want to stop. We stayed for an hour and a half and then I announced it was time for lunch.

I don't know a lot about places to eat downtown, but I knew one restaurant that would get them there, just with its name.

And it was a short walk from the ice rink. So they both had spaghetti and I treated them to Oreo shakes afterwards.

Somehow, our little adventure seemed to take up the entire day. I was so thankful that they had fun...and that I'd gotten to have fun with them.