December 22nd

Patrick and Catherine came in to town the night before, but it was late, so we waited to see them for breakfast at our house this morning.
It was a cold, brisk morning. Peter was up and looking out the window, waiting to watch them pull up in our driveway. Sure enough, right on the dot, Pat and Catherine knocked on the door with a huge present in hand. . ."Oh, boy", I thought, "And it begins. . ."
Peter was so excited to see them! Pat, right away, showed him the wrapped gift and told Peter that it was for HIM. . . ."Open it, bud!" he said.
Peter's eyes were so big as he tore through the wrapping.

Sure enough, a big present means a big gift!

He got a BIKE!!!!! Well, better than a bike . . A BIG WHEEL!!!

Peter wasn't really sure what it was but he was super excited about it! Right away, Pat, Catherine and Tim started putting the bike together. Since it was cold outside, we let Peter ride it in the house.


Which. . . .also lead to his first 'big boy' boo-boo. He threw himself backwards, trying to pull a 'wheelie', and put a small gash in his head, which did bleed a little, had a little bit of a bloody nose and a bleeding tooth. He didn't care for it at first, but Patrick talked it up to being 'a man', so Peter felt really tough and proud of his injuries!
We enjoyed a full breakfast with the Weldon Grandparents, Great-Aunt Eleanor, Pat and Catherine and our family of four. So, pretty much, after breakfast, we all just sat around, while our bellies went into shock. lol
Grandma and Grandpa Weldon, Aunt Eleanor and the rest of the Weldon-gang played with the boys all morning into nap time while Tim and I cleaned up a bit. I made some peppermint hot chocolate and soft pretzels and we all just relaxed. For hours!! It was the perfect beginning to our Christmas week!
We had big plans for dinner tonight. Grandma and Grandpa Weldon took us all to a very nice (and fancy!) French restaurant where we enjoyed very fine dining! Grandma really thought ahead on this one, because she booked us to have our own private room (with doors and everything!) for the kids to 'run around' and play in.


They didn't have a kids menu. . . .shocker!. . . so they mixed some fancy noodles with some fancy cheeses. . .and whallaaa! French-Mac & Cheese!!! And, of course, James ate anything and everything that anyone gave him. He ate two breakfast bars and a bag of cheerios JUST on the way to the restaurant and THEN ate MORE at the restaurant. What a bottomless PIT!!!
Tim had a large steak with 'french fries' and a apple tart for dessert. I shared a shrimp and scallop appetizer followed by a baked flounder dish and then a berry tart and coffee for dessert. We had a really lovely time!