December Catch Up

Happy New Year!

Wow, I've been terrible at keeping up recently. December is such a busy time with the holidays, two birthdays, and all of the school stuff going on. It's just now, after a week of decompressing and relaxing, that I can start thinking straight again.

I'll do a quick recap of the past month and try to keep up a bit better from now on.

First, Matt and I went to a gin tasting event. They had several vendors set up with free tasting, and 5 or 6 bars where you could buy cocktails. We received a handy booklet describing the gins available, so we were able to plan what we wanted to try. One of the vendors was a new subscription box called Gin With... We didn't sign up, but we did buy their premier box.

The most unique thing about this subscription is that they include the proper garnishes. I thought that was a nice touch. I did attempt to compare this box with our Craft Gin Club goodies for December, but both were so good that it was a draw.

Miles and Lily had their school Christmas production (Clara will do a nursery production starting next year). This year we had two children posing as ITV Calendar News readers, and they were presenting Christmas activities around Yorkshire. Lily was a dancer in the Nutcracker, and Miles was Father Christmas on the Santa train. It was a cute play (written by two members of school staff), and was actually in the running for best original nativity in our region!

Also this year, we had three very special guests at the productions. After the first performance, we welcomed Sir Gary Verity (who brought the Tour de France to Yorkshire) along with Christian Prudhomme (the general director of the Tour de France). They were likely in the area because a special cycling race is coming to the area again this year.

Sir Gary Verity (left) and Christan Prudhomme (right)

The special guest attending the second performance was Christine Talbot, one of the co-anchors of the real Calendar News. (I did not know who any of these people were beforehand, but of course I took pictures.)

After photos he said, "And what do YOU want for Christmas?"

Birthday celebrations (with Miles' official party to come).

Lily invited her friends to a gymnastics party, which was loads of fun. And it wore them out, which was a bonus for the parents.

It seems like everyone wants to have dinners and get togethers in December, and this year was no exception. I don't have pictures of all of them, but there was a book club Christmas party with a small gift exchange. There were two nights of dinner and drinks, with mums from different groups, as well as a family dinner one night after school.

We also had our annual trip to the pantomime. Clara is now getting old enough to really have fun with it, although she was still quite fidgety.

We also had shopping time and a bit of silliness.

Unfortunately, we did not get through the holidays without tummy bugs. Luckily, it mostly waited until the school break (three weeks!).

Finally, it was Christmas! It was a great year, but I do get a bit homesick being so far from family and friends. Not to worry, though, as the kids put forward their best efforts at keeping us busy.

Under my cozy new blanket

It was a chaotic end to another great year, and I am happy that we were able to have downtime between Christmas and New Years.  Here's to a great 2019!