One of the best parts of winter holidays at my brother-in-law's place is how active the magpies are this time of year. I see them frolicking all around his yard, and every time I die of jealousy. There are tons of magpies all around here, but absolutely zero of them visit my neighborhood. A trio of fat corvids were hopping from tree to tree outside of the windows, as I sat and talked to my kids and nephews. I totally lost focus on the conversation to watch them. It happens.
Valerie knew as soon as we got there what it meant. We were first, but she was on it with running up and down the hallway and stairs, getting warmed up waiting for the cousins. Some familiar ones were there, and some littles that she had never met before. It took no time at all for the gang to run the grownups ragged yet again. At one point I ventured down into "the rumpus room," where there was a ping-pong table and bean bag chairs, and lots of open space for the kids to run in circles. I lasted about 7 minutes before I went back up to my peers upstairs. Dmitri wasn't ready to run with the toddler horde, but he still had a great time smiling at all his aunties and uncles. He's getting better at sitting, but he did briefly try to take a header off the couch. Crisis averted, but wow. That was our one and only warning shot.
This was a non-traditional Christmas for our family. Didn't gather exactly on the day, didn't do a white elephant gift exchange, and changed up the menu significantly. We had a taco bar, and it was remarkably good. It felt like a good way to close out the year. New Years Eve will just be babysitting and jammies for me. This was my real end of year party.
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