The year my child proclaimed, "I don't like Christmas"

Christmas this year found us traveling to and fro, over the river and through the plains of our large state, on the way to The Husband's relatives' homes.

In the days leading up to our trip, I regularly checked the weather forecast to know exactly what to pack for our family of four. I became a little bitter as the forecast predicted clear skies and cool temps for our destination yet predicted snow at my parent's house (where we were not headed). Having never experienced a White Christmas before, I was a bit sad that I might be missing out on one.

Then we woke on Christmas Eve morning to find this: Apparently weather forecasters are not always right and the snow found us and completely missed my parent's house. The children were ecstatic about all the white powder on the ground. We were not too ecstatic about driving conditions, but the family station wagon got us where we needed to be, never letting inches of ice and snow slow us down.

This year we opted to stay in a hotel due to the fact that 31 people from Tobe's family were convening at his grandparent's farm this to celebrate Christmas. This was the children's first hotel visit and they were incredibly excited.

They were also full of many questions such as

"Does the hotel have a toothbrush?"

"Does the hotel have a bed?"

"What will we eat?"

"Does the hotel have bath toys?"

They quickly were able to answer their own questions and were delighted to discover that although the hotel does not have bath tub toys, it does have a Chuck E. Cheese in the parking lot (where they can "purchase" bath toys with tickets).

We settled into our hotel suite for four days, making it a semi- home away from home.

In fact we were so comfortable with our hotel home, we even snapped a few family pics in front of the lobby fireplace.

Isaac greatly enjoyed his big boy bed and after the four of us sharing one room, we all now know Miss E. has a terrible snoring problem.

Christmas morning we headed out to the grandparents' farm and enjoyed a day of eating, opening presents and spending time with family.

It was here that our sweet, precious two year old uttered the phrase "I don't like Christmas."

Nice.

Seems that Miss E. was in full two year old mode during part of our trip and was a bit of a grump on Christmas morning. She claimed she did not want to eat, did not want to open presents, did not want to have Christmas. She boldly proclaimed to all listening ears, "I don't like Christmas."

Her spirits seemed to lift when she realized there was candy in her stocking.

Ah...behold the wonder of a two year old.

Isaac wondering what is under that sheet....

All smiles after opening her Disney princess set

We moved on the next day to visit more relatives, eat more food (E. preferred Cheetos, as evidenced by the picture below) and open more presents.

We arrived home safely on Sunday afternoon, our car loaded with gifts and treats for each of us. There are still two more holiday celebrations left for us to experience before we can close the curtain on Christmas 2009.

Hopefully Miss E. will be a bit more kind with her opinions about these gatherings...