Our Christmas morning was not very much unlike any other year: stockings with gifts from Santa, a decorated tree surrounded by a pile of wrapped gifts from mom and dad, cinnamon rolls, all the excitement done by 8am...
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| With a smile like this... |
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| This is what the sound of wrapped lego looks like |
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| Typical Christmas morning chaos |
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| Henry got some beyblades! |
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| Santa brought Ali (and Cate) a ribbon |
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| Santa brought stick on nails to Ali and Cate |
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| Happy! |
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| If you know Elise, you know this is a Christmas morning tradition |
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| Henry's new sunglasses (aviators!), combined with some found items, equals superhero! |
On the other hand, the rest of the day was quite out of our ordinary. First, we drove to the highly-recommended Cottesloe Beach. Because when else are we going to spend Christmas frolicking in the Indian Ocean? One observation I would like to make is that the demographics of Christmas beachgoers was far more diverse than what we have seen elsewhere in Perth. On the other hand, I've never really gone out on Christmas anywhere else so it might not be just a local phenomenon.
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| Nothing says "Christmas" like 85 degrees and turquoise water |
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| Don't let Henry and Lily tell you they can't have fun together. |
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| Cate's on the move. |
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| Mommy, Ali and Cate |
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| Can't stop these smiles |
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| Love love love |
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| This is a good place to breathe |
In case you don't know, December 25th is also Elise's birthday. Let's take a moment to celebrate this wonderful woman. We went to a Chinese restaurant to eat Christmas dinner. Maybe there aren't a lot of Jews in Perth, or at least in our neighborhood, but at least the Chinese restaurants are still open. (If that doesn't make sense to you, let me explain that in the States a Jewish tradition is to enjoy December 25th at the movies and going out for Chinese.)
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| Beautiful and... |
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| funny |
After dinner we drove to King's Park, climbed the "DNA Tower" (so named because the stairs form a double helix), and watched a terrific sunset together.
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| The sky gave Elise a lovely gift to end her birthday |
Not counting Thanksgiving, which is a uniquely American holiday not observed where we were (Uruguay), this is our first holiday and our first birthday abroad. I can't imagine it going better. We were very lucky to receive some cards from family in time. The kids were astonishingly accommodating and tolerant of the differences. They focused devotedly on their mother when the attention shifted to her birthday. There were, almost entirely, no complaints about the gifts they didn't receive.
Not counting Thanksgiving, which is a uniquely American holiday not observed where we were (Uruguay), this is our first holiday and our first birthday abroad. I can't imagine it going better. We were very lucky to receive some cards from family in time. The kids were astonishingly accommodating and tolerant of the differences. They focused devotedly on their mother when the attention shifted to her birthday. There were, almost entirely, no complaints about the gifts they didn't receive.
What a beautiful day for a beautiful woman and an amazing family!
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