There were a few false starts to Christmas Day. Emma tried getting up before midnight and thankfully failed to notice the full stocking lying at the end of her bed. Duncan’s night time nappies ran out on the 23rd and he woke at 6am with wet trousers but went straight back to sleep after he and his bed had been changed. Emma surfaced again shortly after seven and refused to believe that Father Christmas had been as her stocking wasn’t where she’d left it downstairs. She eventually found it and we spent most of the next hour playing Moshi Monsters Top Trumps in bed!
We managed to delay opening of presents until after breakfast and getting dressed but there wasn’t much hope of stretching it further than that. There was a good haul of presents at that although the only notable items were a keyboard for Emma, an electric guitar for Duncan (it was never going to be a quiet Christmas) and a shiny new iMac for me the family. We all (Christine’s parents were still with us) went out for a walk up St Catherine’s Hill before lunch. The newly tarmacked cycle path was crowded with walkers (mainly with dogs – not many cyclists in evidence). There was a cool breeze on the way up the steps but the sun even shone as the children played in the mizmaze. Unfortunately the descent back to the car park was a bit of a mud bath.
The afternoon passed playing with toys and a little Christmas TV and, after a slight underestimate on turkey cooking time by Christine, a traditional meal was served around the children’s normal dinner time (I was even granted gravy this year!). After a few rounds of Santa Dash (courtesy of the crackers) the children went to bed suitably tired and a peaceful evening was had by the rest of us!