December Story 11: December 2020 Around Here

 Around here it is quiet. In comparison to previous Christmases.

Around here we are seeing Christmas lights on days the girls have had a bit of energy needed to stay up. It is less busy, and not as many houses have put on lights, but it feels special to drive around to find the most local ones, and to see other families do the same. The numbers of people viewing the lights are down, but it is still nice to see and hear people enjoying the season. There is still a lot of respect for social distancing here. Our girls are particularly noisy at that time of the evening, because 6:30pm is their bed time and they are up past their best hours. It seems to be ok, because it is mostly singing and laughing, and giggles so they tend to brighten up people’s day and make them smile. This year some of the lights were coordinated to music and seriously incredible. We are grateful for the effort people put in to have their houses on display to the public for 1.5 months of the year.

Around here the collection of decorations are growing. The number of decorations increases each year due to the art and craft done by the girls at Kindergarten and School. It is pretty awesome to pull out their past year’s creations. It is also incredible to see the development of skill and the changes in the artwork. It sure does bring back memories. This year we had a purple glittery Kirra Reindeer to add to the collection. Again the Christmas decorations seem to multiply so I’m sure we will have trouble again this year packing it all in the boxes.  

Around here we are enjoying the lights of the tree. It is now connected to Google (as is most of the lights in the house). Instead of turning on the lights in the lounge room we are turning on the Christmas tree lights instead. They are bright and colourful and are pretty cool to have on for a short while before bedtime. The tree also has presents underneath it and the presents are pretty safe from curious girls. The first presents given to them on Christmas tree day only lasted that day though so it was not predictable that the girls would show so much discipline. Kaiya however has read every tag to figure out which presents will be given out to each of us.

Around here we are planning a road trip. It was decided very quickly and we are driving, and booking accommodation with COVID cancellations conditions, in case everything needs to be cancelled due to a lock down but we (Daddy and Mumma) are so excited. Just knowing that there will be a holiday this year is awesome and makes us feel elated. This also feels good for our mental health. We haven’t told the girls yet. We are not sure how they will handle the wait / countdown.