Christmas Day

Christmas day was different.  I mean growing up in my family we kept it pretty quiet anyway, the mornings were spent with me opening all of my presents and since I was an only child and all of my other cousins were alot older than me or lived in other cities I got terribly spoilt.  After I was done my parents would either go back to bed or we would sit about and have a normal breakfast and then get ready for when my aunty and uncle would come over to share a cold lunch of ham and roast meat and salads, then my uncle would fall asleep on the couch and the parents would sit about having a beer and a wine and I would wander off down the street to my best friends house to see what she got and to eat all their food.  There was no big crazy day spent rushing about from house to house visiting all the family members, it was very nonchalant and sometimes pretty boring, especially as I got older and the magic of Christmas started to fade.  It wasn't until I moved to Melbourne and met Marcus that I got a sense of how busy and enjoyable Christmas Day could be. Not that mine weren't enjoyable but they were very very casual.
Now Christmas with Marcus wasn't too crazy but it was spent visiting a family members house for lunch and drinks, they would have a annual big family party a few weeks earlier to fit into every ones schedules so by the time Christmas Day came it was only a few left to get together and share gifts and a bottle or 2 of wine.  But I liked the idea of big family functions, coming from a small family this was all very new to me.  And especially after I started working in retail my Christmas' became very very busy and I could never celebrate too much because I always always had to work on Boxing Day and that was usually our biggest day of the year for sales.  How I do not miss working those crazy hours and I do not miss the crazy desperate shoppers over spending and creating havoc. 
When we had the kids was when Christmas took on an altogether different meaning for us, it became exciting again, special and I love shopping for gifts to treat the kids with and I love telling Judd the stories of how Santa comes to visit in the middle of the night on a sleigh drawn by magical reindeer's and if he is a good boy he will get many special gifts from him.  To see the excitement on his face makes all the effort worthwhile.  To take him out on Christmas Day to visit the family and to get hugs and kisses and more presents and to basically show him off to everyone is really fun, and I know Marcus loves it too.

Christmas this year was different but no less special, Judd really understood the stories of Santa and he knew what was going to happen and he woke up Christmas morning disappointed that he missed seeing Santa because he tried to stay up to catch him.  Lillie doesn't know the stories but she does know how to unwrap a present and she got stuck straight in as soon as she woke and finished her bottle (as nothing comes between her and her morning bottle).  I asked Santa this year to bring Lillie some girlie toys as she mostly plays with Judd's old ones.  Watching her play with her new baby doll and her shopping cart and play house she has turned overnight into a little girl, no longer is she my little baby.  She may wear nappies but she knows how to give her baby her bottle, put her to bed, put her handbag over her shoulder grab the shopping cart and go shopping.  It is so sweet, she takes her baby everywhere now, in bed and in the car.  She cuddles it so tight it makes my heart melt. 
Judd got more grown up toys this year, boxing gloves, Lego and more Thomas trains. But he still insists on taking Lillie's toys from her, even the baby doll.  He always wants what the other kid has despite how many great toys he has himself. 
Our day was spent with a slow morning of unwrapping and playing with toys, a light breakfast and then Skypeing our families to wish them Merry Christmas.  Skype is a wonderful thing, for the kids to be able to see their grandparents and aunts and unlces is so special, and it makes us feel not so far away when we can now just dial up and have a chat whenever we want.  Afterwards I went out to get our Christmas lunch which ended up being 2 pizzas and some fish and chips for the kids, then it was nap time and then we decided to get out of the house and head into town for a Christmas dinner.  It was such a simple, private and calm day.  It wasn't any better than our usual Christmas Days but it was different in a good way.

Boxing Day was another matter altogether which I wont go into now as I don't have the emotional energy to go on about it, lets just say there was a miscommunication between adults and a fight ensued followed by some serious sulking. 

Thailand doesn't have the Christmas vibe to it like Australia, considering their mostly Buddhists that's understandable so in all honesty the 25th Dec could have been any other Saturday. 
But the Thais do celebrate New Year and the do it in a big way, Marcus gets 5 days off this weekend and their are festivals and markets and concerts popping up everywhere, its going to be a noisy and rowdy weekend and I cant wait, we are hoping to get a room in town to be amongst it all and to hopefully see the fireworks display they are having out on the bay.  But being the peak season for tourists I may have to do some serious hunting to find the right place that suits us and the kids, either way I am sure we will have alot of fun.