Where We Live, Santa Doesn’t Need Reindeer

This week was mostly about getting back into the routines of daily life at home. Part of that meant that the kiddies both had colds and jet lag. Poor Eliza has some serious gas that is causing her to smell pretty . . . unladylike. Is it a holdover from her stomach bug? Hope not.

On Thursday, Landon, Eliza, and Hallie went to the Grosse Pointe Moms Club Christmas Business Social. Landon had fun running and playing with kids. Eliza had fun showing off her walking skills. Hallie had fun chatting with other moms. To make sure Mike had some time to get grading done, the three amigos went out to lunch at Olga’s with Sara and Chase. They did not cause any waitresses to quit, so they deemed it a successful lunch.

Thursday continued to be a busy day when Hallie headed over to have a teacher conference with Miss Deb in the evening. Our 15 minute meeting concluded with Hallie signing the papers so that Landon would be exited from speech therapy. We are proud of him and his accomplishments, and we thank the staff at Barnes for all of their help. Now he says he wants to keep going to school, so we will have to look into the next chapter of preschool. Hopefully we can keep him at bay until the fall with school at home and gymnastics classes.

The evening concluded with Hallie attending a performance of Wicked at the Detroit Opera House with three other ladies from church. Mike took great care of the kids, and all was well when she returned from her amazing evening of being enlightened and “Defying Gravity.”  

On Saturday morning, we went to the Grosse Pointe War Memorial (formerly the Alger family mansion) down by Lake St. Clair. After we had breakfast in the ballroom, Santa Claus rode in not on a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer, but in a helicopter!

Santa greeted the children at each table and let us take his picture. Eliza wasn't too sure what to think about the big red man with the white beard. 

After our visit with St. Nick, we headed downstairs to the auditorium where the kiddies had a concert with the Merry Music Maker and danced to tunes from the holiday season. Landon danced in the pit and Eliza bopped in her seat. 

After the concert ended, we went back up for a more formal photo op with Santa.

As the picture shows, the kids are really excited to be visiting with Santa. 

Hallie bought a storage bin for Eliza’s toys earlier in the week, and in the afternoon the boys put it together. Landon did a great job using the Allen wrench and assembling the pieces together. Such a good helper and such a big boy! He watches “This Old House” and “Dirty Jobs” with Dad, and he has recently expressed an interest in learning how to use “dangerous” tools. Oh, boy.

Speaking of big kids, Eliza is now 10 months old, walking, and too busy to hold still to take a picture with her bear. Better watch out!