Our winter break was different this year, primarily because, due to the pandemic, we elected to skip traveling home to Washington.
Nevertheless, it was a pleasing one-week holiday break. Our holiday started two days early. On Wednesday evening, December 16, school was canceled for the following day (and shortly thereafter for two days) due to an impending snow storm. We got about 8 – 10 inches, which was more in one fall than we have had in over two years now in New York. The highlight was sledding at a golf course just on the border of Sea Cliff, which has a dozen really nice hills that fills with local kids.
We then went skiing for two days, with two nights in a B&B, before returning to Sea Cliff for Christmas. Sydney’s friend Kayla and her single mom Dawn – two of the four people in our pandemic indoor hangout bubble – invited us to come over on Christmas Eve, stay for the night, and open presents the next morning. While I missed being with family, it was definitely fun to share a kid-focused holiday with another kid.
Sydney received several games (Santa screwed up and gave her one we already have!), a pair of homemade stilts Sydney is still learning to use, and a fold up ping pong table that goes on our dining room table. I have to remember to get Sydney gifts she can actually play with on the spot. Three of her favorite gifts were a set of 10 doll clothes for her one real doll (from Aunt Sharon and Uncle Dave), a very basic electronic notepad (from Tantip), and a Harry Potter lego kit, which we are only about 1/8th done with.
We were smart to return home from Dawn and Kayla’s house around noon as it gave us the rest of the day on our own. We met Oriol and Oviti in the park (where we also saw our neighbors Grant and Everett), watched a Christmas movie, and had make-your-own pizza for dinner. The next day we met up with Norah and her dad Dave and the following day we drove into the city to meet up with Tantip and Faye to end our winter break.