Now we're in Vermont!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day did indeed happen in Vermont for our family!  We are so happy to be here.  Here's how we finally arrived:

The day before Christmas Eve, we left California at 6... no, make that 8:40 pm, for Houston.  Instead of our planned six hours of sleep, we got three.  We would've gotten half an hour more, but the convenient little tram that runs from the Houston airport to the in-airport hotel doesn't run between 2-5 am -- meaning that we had to walk a quarter of a mile with drop-dead tired kids and too much stuff (e.g., a car seat) in tow at 2:30 am when we arrived.  Hey, Houston Airport Marriott?  Bite me.

We woke up at 6 am on Christmas Eve to catch a blessedly on-time flight to Newark, where my father-in-law picked us up to drive us to Hartford, the nearest spot that would allow a one-way car rental.  Then, the real adventure began!  (As if it wasn't enough to have a flight cancelled, twice rescheduled, late, and almost no sleep!)  It took nearly seven hours to drive to Hartford Airport -- what should usually be a three-hour drive.  We had to stop for groceries en route, as all stores seemed to close at 6 pm on Christmas Eve; so it looked as though we'd be eating Barilla pasta for Christmas dinner -- that is, the family would be eating that as I ate a Thai soup, since the store we stopped at had no gluten-free pasta.  Hey, Big Y in Newtown?  You can bite me, too.

At Hartford's airport, we picked up our one-way rental car to Vermont.  Blessedly, that trip -- though rainy and icy still -- was uneventful and timely.  Singing Christmas songs the last hour to keep each other awake, we pulled into our driveway just past 10 pm.  The Guv hauled out the artificial tree, and Petunia decorated it while I hung stockings and dusted a bit as the Guv changed the water filter and vacuumed (a necessary thing because of Petunia's dust allergy).  I went to bed exhausted and dizzy, but Santa had come, and we slept until past 8 on Christmas morning.

The kids awakened to find that Santa -- via several large, checked pieces of luggage that surprisingly arrived with us -- brought Petunia the coveted, soon-to-be-retired Samantha American Girl doll, and a Buzz Lightyear and army guys for Dash, among other things.  Fait accompli.

Thanks to some Jewish friends posts on Facebook and Twitter, it occurred to me that I might find better food options that Thai ramen for Christmas dinner; they were all (and I pretty much mean all -- is this a tradition I didn't know about?) ordering Chinese food on Christmas day.  It occurred to me that we could search for Asian food, then the Guv remembered that there was a Japanese steakhouse nearby.  And voila, a new Rox and Roll family tradition was born: the Christmas Day Japanese Hibachi Dinner.  Entertaining, delicious, and not prepackaged.  We all loved it!

This morning, December 26, we started the day with a huge brunch at our very favorite localvore restaurant, The Farmers Diner -- "food from here."  The place has the best coffee in the entire universe, and every morsel of food is more delicious than any food I've ever had anywhere.  You could offer me Le Cirque, my once-favorite Olive's, anything -- and I'd trade it all for farm-fresh eggs, maple sausage, home fries and coffee at the Farmer's Diner anyday.  Finally, our vacation had begun!

We headed to LL Bean to gear up Dash for his first ski lesson, having learned that he way, way outgrew last year's snowsuit -- jumping from a 2T being too big last year to a 4T fitting well!  We bought Petunia some used boots and used poles (for a total of $39!) to go with the used skis we bought her last year -- and the kids hit the slopes. 

Petunia glowed as she strapped on her skis, and her last run down the hill with her rosy-pink cheeks is something I'll never forget -- just like I'll never forget Dash's raw athleticism shining through today as he mastered skiing, stopping, and even using his edges as he glided across the snow.  He didn't want to take his skis off!  We bribed the kids to dis-equip as darkness fell by bribing them with a couple of sledding runs. 

When our flight was cancelled, I started to question coming here for Christmas -- snow can really get in the way.  When our flight to Houston was delayed, I started talking about spending Christmas in Texas.  When I had just three hours of sleep, I talked of Christmas in Hawaii next year.  When we sat in the rain and traffic en route to Hartford with my ramen dinner in the trunk, I said "Never Again."

I take it back.

It was all worth it, because my kids -- especially my Dash, but Petunia too -- love it here so very much.  They both call this place "home" too.  And when they're so happy, it's easy to forget how tired I was.   Next year, we'll leave as soon as school lets out.  Next year, maybe we'll actually plan  to spend a night in Texas -- because the kids were so excited to see Texas that they even wore their cowboy hats on the plane to no avail!  Next year, we'll try to do it differently -- but even if we experience the same or more difficulty getting here, I'll know that in the end, it'll all work out alright.  Santa will come, the kids'll hit the slopes, and us parents will have a few minutes to sip hot cocoa from the warm ski lodge and marvel at how they've grown.  That's a Christmas present worth all of the trouble!