I think I have mentioned that we won't be with my family this year for Christmas which makes having a traditional "Richardson Christmas" a little difficult. If you are wondering what that is exactly, then imagine what your house might look like if Santa dropped off all of the donations made at a local Toy Mountain depot and you'll get the picture... because of the logistics and because we're all a little lower on cash this year than other years, my sister and I decided to set a family budget. Sticking to a budget is difficult at the best of times but she has such cute kids that it was hard to stay on course. But I did--more or less. I succeeded by ripping my sister and Brent off. I feel bad about that, but I would also have felt bad if I had gone overboard and so, this year, the kids get the bulk of the fun and my sister and Brent will have to be happy with the small things they are getting. I am pretty sure they'll get over it.
Hell, I got off topic...
Anyway, despite the budget, we still had a pile of things to deliver and so we decided to make a trip to Cambridge to see everyone before the Christmas rush. We invited ourselves but Margo didn't seem to mind. The trip would have been almost perfect had it not taken us 9 hours to get to Cambridge and another 9 hours to get home. Seriously, potty training has added a whole new level of complexity to our lives that I just didn't expect. Sleepless nights, a very crowded bed most nights and now, long long long long long car rides.
Our boys slept the entire night for the first time in months. I think they were just happy to be out of their car seats because our luck ran out the second night. All 4 of us were crammed in the queen bed until I decided to get up and sleep with Bronson on the couch. The last night I slept upside down in the bed with the baby so that Rowan (and his wild elbows) and daddy would have enough room to rest properly. It wasn't a bad sleep, but it was far from good too. No matter how nice our room was and how cute and comfy Rowan and Bronson's little beds were, there still is nothing like sleeping with mommy and daddy (apparently).
The kids (minus Bronson) went to a Christmas Party to see Santa while I took the baby to Jenn's shower. I was in Toronto all of 2 hours before Bronson had had enough. I needed to be there though and a couple of hours is better than nothing at all. Jenn looks amazing and it won't be long now before we have another baby to love.
We got to see Nicole, Darren and the girls for a short bit too. The kids played (and yelled) while we tried to catch up. I say "tried" because it is tough trying to talk and listen over 6 kids. We really would have liked to have stayed and visited during the evening but, that's pretty hard to do when you have babies that go to bed at 6pm...someday. Until then, I am happy to have the short snippets that we have together and luckily, they are good enough friends that time between visits doesn't matter.
We saw Ana all of 30 minutes this trip too. Sadly, we won't be seeing her family during the holidays this year because I am not going to make it to my staff party. Such is life when you have small kids, you live 400 km away, spouses travel and everyone (except me right now) works I guess. We'll make up for it next year-- I hope...
As usual, I don't have any photos of my own to prove that we really were in Cambridge. I know Brent took a bunch and so I am going to have to harass him for a few to post. I really have to get better at having something more than my blackberry on hand for photo taking.
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