We continually had a rummikub game going, whether it was over coffee in the morning or a glass of wine at night. Natalie and Ray are pretty amazing at how they can move every number on the board and get rid of 14 tiles in a single play. I've never seen anything like it. So, to make myself feel better, I played with Emma, Will, and Maggie. Yes, Even 4 year old Maggie plays this game well. I literally got beat by a 5 year old! My nephew Will Furstein beat me on his own! Will and Maggie are crazy smart, just like their genius parents.
Jeannie, Jay, and John live in the same neighborhood, so they would come over every day, or sometimes we'd go over their house for a meal. Jonathan, their son, plays football and is so strong! I learned pretty quickly not to mess with him. He was shooting me with the dart gun, so I took off after him. When I caught him, he tackled me. Then Jeannie said, "Don't hurt my son" and stepped on my head! (Meow, kitty's got claws) Like I could really hurt Jonathan. Then Nat jumped in to save me and Jonathan clobbered her as well.
Dawn and Tom live a few miles away and Aunt Betty stayed with them. Dawn and Betty would come over every day and Dawn would always bring stuff to bake or cook something delicious. Poor Tom and Keith had to work, but were able to come by a few times. Brandy, Dawn's daughter, and her boyfriend also came by a few times. They are so much fun!
Betty bought us all KFC for lunch one day and it was enough to feed us lunch for 3 days. I adore my Aunt Betty, she is so funny and so wise. She's the easiest person in the world to talk too. Even though she is deaf, she's the best listener in the world.
It was so great spending time with my parents too. They came up a few days before Christmas and stayed until New Years Eve. We got to celebrate my dad's B-day on the 29th. Dawn made some fudge pies with vanilla ice cream for his cake. YUM! And Ray grilled burgers in the rain for us! My mom, who doesn't usually drink (because she gets drunk off of a quarter glass of wine) had a few sips of wine one night. The next thing we new, she was sitting on the floor, lining up little stuffed animals on the ottoman and shooting them off with the dart gun. Hilarious!
Ellie and Emma had the time of their lives with Will and Mag's. They didn't want it to end. We had this ongoing game where the adults would hide and jump out and scare the wits out of the kids. On the last night, all the kids went upstairs while all the adults hid. When they came down and walked through the downstairs, we jumped out at them. Then they made all the adults go upstairs while they hid and then scared us.
Nat and Ray were so hospitable to let us all crash there for a week. It was definately a Christmas to remember!
