In which we celebrate Christmas

First, an apology for being so far behind. With luck, I'll be able to catch up over the next week (though with the kids out of school that may be a bit trickier). So, we're currently back on Wednesday, December 9, in case you're trying to keep track of what's happened when.

Wednesday morning there were still many last minute things to take care of before we could actually celebrate Christmas. Many gifts still needed to be purchased. Some kind of a festive meal had to be planned. The gifts that we did have needed to be wrapped. Early in the morning, even before we ate breakfast (later than normal, since there is no school on Wednesday in France), I headed over to the Auchan and bought Cherry's gifts. When we were there Tuesday she had explained that she desperately wanted a baby with a stroller, but I was not about to buy it for here while she was there with me. I also picked up a very cool Usborne Christmas sticker book.

After breakfast, Blaise's parents came over (Danny had decided that our couch was better than 3 adults in a hotel room). The men (Blaise, Danny, Max, and Ezio) headed into Paris to go to the Musée de l'Armée. (Since I wasn't there, I have no idea what happened, except that Blaise inadvertantly got a sandwich with mayonnaise for lunch, and that Ezio was very nearly suffocated on the train ride home.) The women (Ginnie, Sapphire, Cherry, and I) headed over to the mall and the Auchan to complete our shopping, which went something like this:
Shoes for Cherry--check
Shoes for Sapphire -- fail
Scarf for Sapphire -- check
Art supplies for Sapphire -- check
Sticker books for Cherry -- check
Asterix book (in French!) for Ezio --check
Umbrellas for all three kids -- check
Food for dinner -- check
Cookie ingredients -- check
400 g Milka bar -- check (admittedly, half of this was actually for the cookies. Please don't ask how long the second half lasted me.)
Wine -- check
Our shopping done, we headed home.

By this time it was almost 2 o'clock, and we were all starved. After lunch, Sapphire did crafts with Grandma, Cherry fell asleep, and I wrapped our gifts. We made cookies (only one kind). Ginnie wrapped gifts. We started dinner. I began to wonder if the men had gotten lost. Finally, they arrived, and Danny went to wrap his gifts. We opened gifts. Cherry loved her stroller and her bébé (who has been named Baby Junior). Ezio's favorite gift was a light saber. (Evidently I should have wasted luggage space on one back in June.) Sapphire promptly demonstrated to everyone the proper French way to wear a scarf. Blaise and I got luxurious hand knits from his Mom.

After dinner and dessert, the kids were packed off to bed, and Blaise's parents headed back to the hotel.