It has been a tradition in Jason’s family for everyone to
gather on Christmas and celebrate. However, as the family has expanded, kids
have moved away and grandkids entered the scene, it was time to alter the plan
just a bit. We decided this summer at a family gathering to try to get together
on the weekend before Christmas. The date was chosen and plans made. Those who
didn’t have other obligations were in attendance and the rest were in our
thoughts all day.
As with the last Liner gathering, Chase got to start his
adventure with a sleepover with Popi and Meme. Jason was off work so he and
Chase ventured off to meet Popi for lunch at a half-way point. The day started
off as a success when Jason and Chase met Popi for lunch and there were snow
flurries! Jason and I went about our afternoon and finalized our plans to drive
to Winston-Salem the next morning for the family Christmas celebration. As we
were getting ready to head out for dinner with my Mom (we had man-to-man
coverage, I wasn’t going to miss out on that opportunity!) Jason got this
picture.
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| Chase hanging out of the sunroof of Popi's car |
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The mom in me thought they were nuts but then Jason
explained where they were. In the Winston-Salem outskirts there is a HUGE park
called Tanglewood. Every Christmas they put up this ENORMOUS Christmas light
display and people come from all over to drive through it. I had actually been
thinking it would be neat to take the boys but wasn’t sure the triplets were
quite ready.
Well, Meme and Popi took Chase instead. They got in line around
4:45 and were already the 6th car waiting. Meme, being the amazing
planner that she is, had enough foresight to bring games to play in the car
while they waited to enter the light show.
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| Playing games while waiting for the darkness to settle |
Once they got in, Popi called Jason
to have Chase tell him what he was doing. All Jason could hear was Chase
yelling, “Look over there!” “Look at that!” “Wow!” He was mesmerized by the entire
scene and loved every minute of it.
Meme would tell me later that she mentioned to Popi that it
might not be a good idea to have Chase pop out of the sunroof because the
police might not approve. Without being told, anytime Chase would see blue
lights (even in the displays) he would shrink down inside the car and wait
until the blue lights passed! That kid…..what a hoot!
In her usual fashion, Meme made an event out of dinner with
Chase helping and he followed it with a bath and some cards with Meme before
heading off to bed.
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| Making pizza for dinner with Meme |
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| Time to put it in the oven! |
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| A little pre-bed card game with Meme |
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| Barely awake yet still holding his baseball! |
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The
next morning we all gathered in Winston-Salem for some food and a gift
exchange. This is the second time in about 6 weeks that the cousins’ kids all
got together and they had even more fun this time around.
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| Thanks cousins Zack and Luke for bringing this mini-hockey table for us to all enjoy! |
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| Graham and Anthony (L-R) with Dancing Bear aka Jason's Uncle Dale |
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Jason and I left with the triplets and Meme and Popi
followed us back to Raleigh with Chase in tow shortly after. This is the final
shot we got from Popi on the ride home. Meme said she actually checked to make
sure he was breathing at one point!
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| One tired boy! It is important to note that he gave up naps by choice before he turned 3! |
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So what's next? Well, Christmas with Meme and Popi here at home!
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