Thus, I chose not to cook the traditional Polish X-mas Eve supper or X-mas Day dinner. I chose even not to get a X-mas tree (all our decorations donated prior to leaving the US in March). I felt quite sad... Most of our friends, immigrants like ourselves, left town... We stayed home awaiting the arrival of Eric's parents.
On the morning of the 25th, we let E open a couple gifts and we left the majority to share with Grandma and Grandpa. E, oblivious to why he was getting a present on that particular "X-mas-tree-less" morning, really liked putting it together with Eric. I never knew that assembling a simple toy may require that much work.
When in Rome do like Romans do: after breakfast we hit the beach! It was a lovely morning.
The boys threw some rocks in the water
and I built a "sandman."
It survived long enough for me to take a few pics of it before E threw himself on it with passion and great satisfaction.
E chased some birds and slid down the sand dunes just as one would on snowy hills...
After a nap, we went hiking in a nearby Reserve. It was enjoyable enough: green, quiet and quite intimate with no one else around.
E surprised us with the amount of independent walking he did.
He was not shy to ask for help when he hit his limit. He looked a bit worried about Eric's ability carry out the task.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with a couple of Kiwi friends sitting on their porch, drinking beer and watching E making friends with their dog and cat.
The following day, unlike the Kiwis, we visited the recently-opened Luge.
It was hard for E to sit still for 8 minutes while the car was being drawn up the hill.
8 minutes may have been an eternity!
He loved the rides down though - especially the tunnels and curves.
After we exhausted E's enthusiasm for the luge, we introduced him to mini golf. He took to it like a fish to water.
With Christmas gone, we looked forward to the Grandparents' visit and our trip up north, to Ahipara.
"Think of the Kiwi this Christmas season!"
