We’d planned a major coup for Christmas: all of Sydney’s family was going to fly to Kentucky to spend the holidays with us. We were hoping to skip the six days of driving that it would take for us to visit them and take advantage of Kentucky’s comparatively mild winters to let the Nova Scotians get outside a bit. Unfortunately, health and weather intervened, and we found ourselves with Christmas on our own. Although we weren’t exactly dismayed by the thought of some time at home after such a busy fall, we were very glad when David called us to say we were invited to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with his family in Ohio.
The drive up gave us the chance to visit Cincinnati’s Newport Aquarium, where we spent much of Christmas Eve. The kids had a great time, as you can see:
After the aquarium, we finished up our drive to London, Ohio, where we were one of several families invited for supper. Everyone was in the holiday mood, and our kids had a great time playing with familiar friends (Anna’s on the left in the picture below) and making new ones. Given the way Nathaniel turned constantly to David’s parents when he needed something, we think he was trying to replace us, and he was very upset when it was time to go home, since it meant that he had to go with his parents and leave Anna’s grandparents behind.