Unveiling the Work Bench

So what happened with the mini work bench, you ask? We kind of forgot about it in the excitement of the morning, but when we got back from our hike, Mom asked the girls to come downstairs and "help with something"....

....and that's when they discovered their final present of the day!

They both loved it, especially the pink tools and safety glasses, and the way it's "just our size!"

Mom is hoping to build lots of fun projects together in the shop this year!

Hiking the Loop

After the excitement of Christmas morning, we all fell into kind of a mini-depression in the afternoon (probably to be expected after the holiday buildup). As an antidote, Mama suggested that we get outside and try to hike the neighborhood loop, which the kids had never done before. Great idea!

The Loop is about 1.5 miles long, and goes from our house up into the woods, along the back edge of the dairy farm, down through more woods to the river, under the bridge, then up a stream and back to our driveway. Mama skis and/or runs it often, and we have snow-shoed it before, but it was a little bit ambitious for the kids.
We headed up the trail from our backyard, and the cold air seemed to make everyone feel a little better.

We found lots of icy puddles to break through...

....and some spots where the puddles were more like skating rinks.

We had to cross under a few electric fences....

...and the girls had to be motivated with jelly beans ("Power Pills") a few times too.

When we made it to Outlet Stream, we stopped to admire the old stone bridge foundations, and Mama explained to the girls how high the water used to be before the dam was removed.

Then we made our way underneath the new bridge (built last year)....

....and got to climb on more old bridge foundations.

It was neat to stand under the bridge that we drive over nearly every day.

We found some treasures that the construction crew had left behind, including this broken survey target--sweet!

As we continued along the bank of the Sebasticook, the girls were starting to get tired, but we had passed the halfway point, so there was nothing to do but keep moving.

We were both quite proud of the kids, who did their best to surpass all the obstacles that seem a lot bigger when you have short little legs.

They were feeling pretty proud of themselves, also.

The last big push is up the narrow stream bed to the road. We fortified ourselves with a few more Power Pills....

...and then headed on up.

The stream wasn't frozen yet, so crossing it was a little bit dicey....

....but the girls wouldn't let wet boots and a steep uphill grade stop them at this point.

Finally we reached the top of the hill and saw our house across the road. The kids were amazed that we had left by the backyard and came back to the front!

Even though it was a big effort for the kids, the Loop hike really lifted everyone's mood for the rest of the day.

Santa Came!

Well, it turned out the kids WERE on Santa's Nice list after all, but they had to wait at the top of the stairs to find out on Christmas morning. Mama's family tradition is that the kids can't come downstairs until the adults are ready (coffee and cameras in hand), so they had to wait an excruciating few minutes until....

....being released....

...and finding all kinds of new presents under the tree! Santa's wrapping paper was blue and white this year, it turns out.

Surprisingly (or not really, since they've had their eye on it for weeks), the kids opened the big red box from Keri first.

It was addressed to both of them, and contained lots of super-cool Star Wars toys, including these realistic-sounding light sabers! Keri is Mama's best friend from back in college days, and the girls always look forward to opening her creative presents.

Next the girls opened presents from Santa, and (happily) they got just what they wanted: A Hello Kitty sheet and pillow set for Kate....

...and a "Fur Real Friend" robot dog for Emily.

Yes, Em wanted a real dog, but she had already resigned herself to getting a robot one, so she was pretty happy with "Bouncy".

The gift opening fiesta continued, with more Hello Kitty items....

....and a few Harry Potter items, too (of course).

The Hello Kitty jumbo jet plane was a big hit....

...as was the pretty pink tutu skirt.

We gave Em a decent "kid tough" microscope, which she was pretty excited about. This replaces the crappy one we bought at Goodwill a few months ago.

And this was a fantastic find--a Harry Potter character poster, with characters from all seven movies. She loved it!

To say that Kate loved her Hello Kitty jewelry box (with Hello Kitty jewelry inside) would be an understatement. If you haven't noticed already, it was kind of a Hello Kitty Christmas for Kate.

After all the presents were opened, it was stocking time. Santa left lots of fun stuff, but the girls' favorite (of course) was the candy.

With all the excitement done by 7:00, it was time to play with the new-found toys.

All the Hello Kitty parts and pieces climbed aboard together for a flight to (where else?) Florida....

....while Emily worked hard to master her remote-control helicopter that she got from Santa.

Grandma and Pop Pop came over around 9:00 to visit....

...and they brought a couple more presents for the girls to open!

Emily was ecstatic to open up Fluffy, the three-headed dog from the first Harry Potter movie....

...along with her Gryffindor hat, while Kate loved her new toy cash register (complete with scanner!). Kate remarked "I didn't even know I always wanted a cash register!"  Sweet.

After Gram and Pop Pop left, it was time for more playing with the new toys (by Mom and Mama too).

It's always kind of sad when the great anticipation of Christmas morning has come and gone, but now we can start counting the days until NEXT Christmas!

We hope all of our blog readers are enjoying a wonderful holiday season filled with happiness, love, and good cheer!