It all started on 23rd December, when Jenny & Wayne (having arrived late the night before) took the children out for the day. They had a blast - going rock climbing, paddle boating, rock pooling, and to the museum - and came back in the afternoon all sunburnt and exhausted!
This left me free to finish up my work for the year, wrap the last few presents in peace, do a last minute supermarket shop - and do some nice stuff too....
Like go for an early morning walk in the mountains.....
And have a picnic lunch with Jake on the waterfront....
And a walk around to Oriental Bay....
Have a coffee and read the paper at one of Wellington's lovely cafes....
And listen to the pop-up carol singers in town....
It was bliss to have an entire day to myself in the sun. So in many ways the 23rd December was pretty much the best day of the Christmas season for me!
(And maybe drinking a little bottle of bubbles too!)
It was such a lovely Christmas Eve!
We then began our family Xmas traditions. First of all, we always make a point of eating fish on Xmas Eve and we all open one present each. This goes back to my Polish roots. However, Wigilia Hughes-Downing style is not quite the same as the Wigilia as I had every year growing up with my Polish family! It's all in the interpretation. We had fish and chips on the beach at Lyall Bay instead. (Not a great shot of Alfie - he was hot and red and hungry!).
And then on to the next family tradition. On Christmas morning, we always go to the beach as soon as we wake up, no matter what the weather, to open a present, drink hot chocolate and eat (cold) Vegemite toast. This year was pretty windy and chilly, so we came home pretty quickly and ate Xmas cake for breakfast!!
And then it was round the tree for presents! Jenny & Wayne are working in Mozambique at the moment and brought the kids some lovely African things - a Mambas soccer top for Alfie and an African dress & jewellery for Molly. Don't they look great?!
Jenny got a bit emotional about one of her presents ;) !! (a framed photo of Molly)
Jake got quite excited about his can of Ambrosia custard all the way from the UK!
And then it was on to Christmas lunch - this was one of many "Cheers!" moments....!
Molly always helps prepare the Christmas ham for dinner. This year I also soaked it in beer every 15 minutes as well and it made the ham come out AMAZING! Very delicious indeed if anyone needs a recommendation for how to cook their ham!
It's also Molly and Alfie's job to decorate the pavlova every Christmas. Good job kids!
On Boxing Day we opened MORE presents, and then took Nana and Wayne over to Makara Beach for a walk along the clifftops....
....and we stopped for Christmas cake at the top!
And we rounded off Boxing Day with drinks at the Spruce Goose (by the airport) where the kids could play swing tennis while Wayne did some plane spotting! Lovely for everyone!
Finally....... Christmas in our house carried on until 27th December. Jake and I began with an early morning competitive journey up the mountains - Jake being convinced that he'd easily get there first. So he ran up one track and I walked up the other - and I got there first!!! (Never going to let you forget that one Jake!). Then it was back home for MORE presents!
And then we drove around to Eastbourne for a little walk along the coast....
And then we came home to play on the new water slide....well, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a water slide!
So now it's all over. But what a great Christmas. Thanks for coming to visit Nana Jenny!
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