28 Dec 2015

CHRISTMAS WEEKEND REVIEW 2015

It took some time to wrap all the gifts which Mr. G. then put in our laundry basket. He loaded the car and off we went to Amsterdam, celebrating Christmas with our son and family.



The laundry basket for another purpose !

The highways to Amsterdam were nearly empty and we arrived after 2.30 h with a coffee break just for lunch at our son's house. The laundry basket had to stay in the car of course, as grandson Toby believes that Father Christmas will come during the night and put the gifts under the tree.



Toby and I were asked to color the table cloth. We did our best, but it was impossible to color all the Christmas trees, animals etc. but we had a lot of fun !



Then he showed us how to make designs with these little tubes on a round or a star plastic pattern. This little boy of 5 has such a lot of patience ! I helped him by sorting out these tiny tubes per color.
So the afternoon went by rather quickly. Outside it rained and it was quite windy.



In one corner of the living room stood this very beautiful Christmas tree, with the handmade crib from Mr. G. He got it when he was two years old and now it belongs to his grandson. This creche is 72 years old and still very pretty.



On Christmas eve for  supper we had a Pierrade with beef and chicken pieces, fish and cheese. You cook everything yourself and it is served with Broccolis, salad and baked potatoes.!  Toby's mouth watered in front of the "buche de noël" (Christmas log) and the Dinosaur's too ! We chatted and listened to Christmas music and I danced with Toby and then he danced with his mum; We had a lot of fun ! We didn't go to bed late because we thought we have to get up early as Father Christmas would appear ! 



Our son took this picture of the three of us for the family album



And then Mr. G. was asked to make a picture of the young family. What a procedure, he doesn't like to take pictures in the first place and this enormous camera didn't make it easier. It was so heavy that he had difficulties to hold it and to find the button. Son and grandson tried to help, while I took these pictures and laughed my head off !

The next morning Toby discovered with surprise all the gifts under the Christmas tree





He distributed the boxes and packages and unwrapped his gifts ! He was a real happy little boy ! He started to play with everything a little and then picked out one Lego and put it together in no time !



The breakfast table was beautifully set up by our son and we had a nice breakfast together after having unwrapped all our gifts.

In the afternoon we made a little walk through Amsterdam city, unfortunately it rained and it was windy. So we didn't stay very long.




Our son is an excellent cook and had prepared a very special plate for Christmas instead of the traditional turkey. Once Mr. G. had mentioned that he was fed up to eat always turkey on Christmas. So we had seafood, it tasted delicious. It was served with risotto and spinach leaves.

My DIL had made a special desert and I liked it so much that I emptied the bowl ! Normally I am not so for sweet things !

On Saturday we returned home, this time the sun was shining so much that it was difficult to drive ! Fortunately I had my Madame GPS to show me the highway exits. We arrived just for lunch and were greeted by our cats. My neighbor had taken good care of them.

Sunday we didn't do anything but spending a very lazy day !

9 comments:

  1. It sounds like a very good family Christmas. The crib at 72 years old is amazing.

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  2. Hi Gattina - looks wonderful, Toby looks happy, and I like the family album photo of you, Mr G and Toby .. that's a good one ... happy times - cheers Hilary

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  3. Love that tree! Just as it should be I think. Some of the trees I see are just covered with stuff, so you can't even see the tree anymore.

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  4. Compliments of the season to you all! I love that Christmas tree and as usual, am fascinated with the ancient crib. You do take care of things well. The photo of you, Mr G and Toby shows three very tall people! And as Dario is tall, I don't often see photos of Marieken and notice she is tall too. I'm glad you had a good time with the family. Jo xx

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  5. Isn't the innocence of children the most touching thing at Christmas? I'm glad to see you all had a wonderful time!

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  6. It looks like you had a wonderful Christmas with your son and his family. Christmas is even more special when there are young children in the family.

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  7. Sounds like everything was perfect and Toby thoroughly enjoyed himself.

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  8. Looks like a wonderful time for all! We like to have a "rest" day after visiting, too.

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  9. What a lovely Christmas! I loved our holidays with our grands when they were little and still believed in Santa Claus. It is really fun to relive the magic when you are not responsible for creating it!

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