We woke up early this morning to ensure that everyone was fed, clothed, and packed before catching our 9am taxi to the airport. As we do each year, we were off to celebrate Christmas with the family in England. The friendly cab driver brought us right to the terminal we requested which, after waiting in line for 20 minutes to check-in behind 50 people headed to Moscow, we discovered was not the correct terminal after all. So we legged it – with children and luggage in tow – to the new EasyJet terminal which is roughly as large as it would need to be to comfortably service half of the people who were currently packed in there. We got in the chaotic “last-minute” line and watched as every other line moved noticeably faster. We eventually got our boarding passes and had to then leg it another million miles to the mathematically-proven furthest possible gate in the entire airport. We made it to the gate, huffing and puffing, just in time to find out that our flight had been delayed an hour. Nice.

But the plane eventually took off without incident and we flew effortlessly from sunny and surprisingly cold Barcelona to cold and surprisingly sunny England. The view of the snow-covered fields of northern France and England from 30,000 feet was at once divine and austere. And the brilliant sun was an unexpected yet very welcome addition to an already postcard-perfect landscape. A quick check of the five-day forecast seems to suggest that Sebastian’s first Christmas may very well be a white one.

Emily enjoyed a white English Christmas two years ago but, since long-term memories were hard to come by then, she doesn’t really remember it. So she was particularly excited. Very cute was the fact that she thought that, just because there was snow on the ground, it must be Christmas.

Fast and efficient were the tram from the plane to the terminal in Stansted, passport security, and baggage claim. All that was left was to pick up the rental car I had already booked via Budget Rent A Car. I will spare you the intricate spreadsheet I created to find the absolute best possible price from all available rental companies. Picking up the car, too, would have been a quick process had I not got caught in a circular argument with the stubborn sales rep regarding my refusal to purchase one or all of their many optional insurances scams, I mean offers. In fact – possibly out of spite – I ended up not taking any insurance at all!! I knew that great price I found on the Internet was too good to be true. Well, I was proud and cheap and possibly stupid, so I’m driving a little more carefully on the left side of these icy roads than I would otherwise. I also made sure to inspect the vehicle more carefully than usual before signing anything and it’s a good thing I did because I found two undocumented scratches and a cracked side mirror! If I make it through these 12 days without so much as a bump or scratch I will have effectively beat the system.

And then we arrived and Grandma and Granddad’s house. The house was all warm and cozy inside, lovingly decorated to excess with lights and tinsel and cards and a beautiful tree in the living room. Emily was so excited to revisit her fond memories of her last visit by seeing and doing everything in the house that could possibly be seen and done in as little time as possible. And Sebastian tormented poor old Chelsea. Seriously, as rough as Emily ever was with this little cat, Sebastian made him long for those days again by repeatedly attempting to pick him up over his head by the scruff of his neck, and sometimes succeeding. Every time we turned our backs he was after the cat again, laughing all the way. Dinner was delicious, our first evening of English Christmas TV was relaxing, and putting the kids to bed was an utter nightmare. Here’s hoping the next week and a half goes as smoothly, calmly, and uneventfully as possible. Happy holidays!