Happy New Year!!

The funny thing about the holiday season is that no matter how fun and enjoyable it is, it's also such a time suck. Seriously. Buy presents, wrap presents, take pictures for Christmas cards, order, assemble and send Christmas cards, put up a tree; decorations; nativity scene; outside lights, hang stockings, read Christmas stories. Then add the social things, like class parties, making treats for class parties and spending time with friends and family. It's a lot. There are so many good and fun things that go into the holidays (and it truly is my favorite time of the year), but it's a lot. No wonder I haven't written in my blog since mid-November!!

This year we decided to drive to Chicago for Christmas (or rather the airlines decided when they raised airfare and started charging for every checked bag. Can you imagine how many checked bags and car seats a family of five with three small kids has?). Santa came the day before we made the trip, which was really fun. Devin was so excited that he was up at 3:10am looking down the stairs for presents under the tree. We held the boys off until about 6:30am and then the crazy shredding of wrapping paper began. They were done by the time Isabel awoke, and she had more fun trying to eat the bows than paying any attention to the presents. We spent most of the day in our jammies playing with the kids toys before we started loading up the car for our big trip. Over the mountains and through the fields (roughly 820 miles) to Grandmother's house we go.
So we loaded up a bunch of clothes, presents, books and countless snacks and left our 65 degree home at 7:30am. An hour and a half into our trip Devin vomited in his seat. I think it's safe to say that he gets car sick. Despite our auspicious beginning (and a big laugh about seven hours into the trip when Devin casually mentioned that his seat was stinky) we made it to my parent's house in just under fourteen hours (with a negative 70 degree temperature change). We were prepared to spend the night in a motel somewhere along the way, but the boys were motivated to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house and Isabel was a dream traveller as long as she had the company of a parent in the back seat.
We had a wonderful time in Chicago. We spent almost all of our time with one family or another, and really enjoyed our visit. There were they typical scheduling issues that cropped up (and the not-so-typical plumbing issue at my parents house), and unfortunately 3/5 of the Blake family got sick, but overall it was a good visit. Devin cried profusely when we had to leave his cousins, and it served as a good reminder why we visit. Yes, it's a long drive. Yes, we often get sick while there. Yes, there are tight quarters when you add five additional people to any household. But it is also among our favorite things to do, and something that our kids always look forward to - spending time with our families.
After a week and a half, we made it back to our house at 10:30pm on New Years Eve after another 13.5 hours in the car (this time without vomit). We tucked the kids into bed, unpacked the car and collapsed on the couch in time to ring in the New Year. I think we were both asleep within an hour of the beginning of 2009, but we have all year to celebrate. In some ways I am sad that the holidays are over, but I think we are all glad to be getting back to normal. Tomorrow all the Blake boys will be off to school and work, and Isabel and I will be running errands and getting the house back in shape (hopefully). Not particularly exciting, but sometimes the normal routine is a good thing.

Peace and happiness to all in the new year.