high tide at birch bay
so we celebrated christmas with my family on saturday and it was great. i will have to refer you to the slopsema blog for pictures of the event, as our camera was already packed. we met at meg's at 10am, hoping to miss the blizzard-like conditions that were forecast for the indy area. we took a yummy "ellie dessert" and headed on our way. matt commented on how heavy the car felt on the drive. we understood why when we weighed our luggage at the airport the next morning. we had packed nearly 300 lbs. of presents, clothes, shoes, etc. when we got to meg's house we immediately opened presents. it was great to have dad and mom and john there to enjoy the kids excitement. coop received a little tikes digital camera from mom and john and it actually takes really great pictures. his eyes lit up when he opened his present from gpa dave. it was a really authentic looking holster and leg strap and a metal pistol, which we unfortunately had to leave in the van. it looked a little too real to pack in our luggage. becks got the bouncing zebra chair and onesies, which he was badly in need of. he has decided to carry on the tradition of his older brother and pee through his pjs every night. ains hit the jackpot with a pink cowboy hat and an american girl bitty baby, which she later named "h." we're still working on choosing a different name. after a great lunch of baked chicken, meg's fresh canned corn and green beans, and too much dessert, we talked to weed and thanked her for the great books she and mor sent the kids. coop and ains are really into shel silverstein right now and were really pumped to get "where the sidewalk ends." it's always hard at christmas when we can't all be together. the first two years matt and i were married we spent christmas in indiana. and every other year, except for two, we have spent christmas day at mom's with meg's fam and weed. so weed, we miss you and love you "all the numbers."
after lunch we headed to columbus, ohio, to catch our flight to bellingham. the roads were pretty clear and the snow never really hit us. but about 40 miles outside columbus our windshield wipers died. not so good. slushy rain pounded the car and matt had to drive for about 5 minutes with his head hanging out the window like a dog. he obliged me and let his tongue hang out of his mouth for a few moments. at the truck stop we bought some rain-x, which i will invest heavily in when matt is done with school. i bought a long ice scraper with a brush on one end and bundled up in ski gloves and a hat. i was totally prepared to take one for the team, but it was not necessary. the rain-x worked like a charm. when we got to columbus we dropped the car off at a gm dealership where the people promised to fix it and keep it until we got back.
at 3am sunday we got up and got ready and our flight left exactly at 6am. we missed the horrible weather by one hour. what a relief. we got into blghm at 8am after a rather uneventful flight. becks did manage to poop twice during the flight. and a raunchy flight attendant warned me to sit down until the fasten seat belt light was turned off. so we spent the next little while enjoying the aroma of feces a la beckett. we arrived at gma ellie's to find it totally decked out for christmas. the kids were in heaven. after naps for matt and becks we headed down to the water to throw a few rocks, but the wind was so strong it took beckett's breath away and nearly carried away ainsley. she is rotten, but we don't want her to blow away. we spent a few freezing moments in the hot tub, ate too much french dip, and watched sunday night football. it was over by 8pm. crazy. it doesn't start until 8pm in ind. we crashed pretty early and i didn't wake up until later the next morning when coop relieved himself on my back. welcome to washington. apparently it is a very wet place.
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