Christmas Eve
BearFace, Murphy and I actually made pretty good time on the drive home on Christmas Eve. I think most people did their traveling over the weekend, and were off the roads by the time we were heading back to CT. We made it home just in time to make it to the annual Christmas Eve festivities at my great aunt Mollie's house.
Always enjoy the annual Aunt Kay Memorial Beer Pong Tournament!
As always, it was an entertaining evening with the cousins, complete with a delicious feast and a bit of snow at the end of the night.
Christmas
Which means we woke up to a white Christmas! My family started off the day with Christmas morning Mass at our church. It was rather an emotional mass as I thought about all the families in Newtown that would be celebrating Christmas without their children and loved ones. My prayers went out to all of them, and still do.
After Mass, my mom and I took the pups to the park in an attempt to get out some of their energy before our guests arrived.
I'm going to get you!!
Can't say it worked as far as getting their energy out, but they had a blast all the same. Next it was present time! Ruby, apparently, is quite the present-opening expert! Murphy wasn't really sure what to make of his presents, but got them open with a little help from Mom.
SQUEAKS! Hmm, this doesn't look like
what I asked for.
Around noon, I headed over to BearFace's sister's house for Christmas lunch with his family. I hadn't seen his nieces in quite a while, and it was a lot of fun to spend some time with them. BearFace and I both tried to hold ourselves back a bit on the food, but certainly inhaled our fair share of lunch and dessert. And then we were off to Christmas Round Two (dinner at my house)! It was nice to spend time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. I had not seen them in quite a while either! Murphy and Ruby had to go into time out for a while, but everyone, including the pups, had a good Christmas!
Wednesday
The day after Christmas brought a reunion with 2 of my favorite people! First, a long coffee date with MagSauce, who was nice enough to drive halfway down from Massachusetts to meet me for a catch-up! After that, Murphy and I drove a bit farther to meet Jenny and and Elise for our UConn reunion! We walked around the barns for a little while and visited some UConn ponies, although my favorites were all out in the field. Also Elise was a bit of a cripple, so we couldn't drag her too far!
Our plans were to have a feast of our favorite college foods, including Wings Over Storrs (BEST late night weekend snack), and UConn Dairy Bar ice cream! Jenny and I were frequent visitors to the Dairy Bar during college, especially since most of our classes were directly next to it (It's like it was meant to be)! Sadly, neither of these tasty treats made it into my belly. Apparently, Wings Over Storrs does not open until 4:00, and the Dairy Bar closed as we were walking up the steps!!! So, so sad. We ended up eating at Willington Pizza instead, another one of our favorite delicacies from our college pastimes.
Thursday
I started Thursday morning off with breakfast with my friend and ex-roommate Sarah! We had some snow overnight, which turned to freezing rain in the morning and unfortunately canceled our riding plans. We stopped by the barn first to visit my old friend Doones, and then headed to breakfast to catch up on our lives!
Peaceful, snowy morning in New England.
Murphy and Ruby had their own little adventure while I was breakfasting. My mom decided to take the two of them for a car ride to Hubbard Park near my parent's house. The three of them were sitting in the van, watching the ducks swimming on the pond. Now I can't speak for Ruby, but I can certainly say I could not imagine Murphy highly enjoying this activity. Apparently, he did not. He decided that active participation was better than watching, and without a warning, leapt out of the open van window. Ruby followed suit, and they both sprinted to the duck pond and dove in! My poor mother parked the car as quickly as possible and ran to the pond, where she found the two troublemakers clinging to the wall, trying to get out of the freezing cold water! I imagine the whole scene going something like this:
Murphy: Sooo...how often do you guys watch the ducks from the car?
Ruby: Mmmm, couple times a week maybe?
Murphy: Yeah, it's real, um...exciting. Have you ever thought about chasing them?
Ruby: Uhhh...no. Not really.
Murphy: Alright, watch this.
**Dogs hit the water**
Murphy: CRAP! I CAN'T SWIM!! IT'S REALLY COLD!
Ruby: OMG I'M FREEZING! THAT'S THE LAST TIME I LISTEN TO YOU!
In reality it was probably more like this:
Murphy: Duck. Duck. I like duck. Want duck. Need to chase duck. DUCK. RUNNING AFTER DUCK. IN WATER. WATER COLD. DROWNING. HELP.
Needless to say, both dogs took a much-needed trip to the groomer after their swim in the duck poop-infested water.
Later on that evening, I met up with some more UConn ladies for a happy hour in West Hartford. Caitlin, Honeybear, and Banana and I met up at Max Burger (YUMMM) and got a few drinks and snacks.
And what's better than one dinner? Two dinners! My parents and brother Joe picked me up for a second dinner at the Cheesecake Factory down the street in West Hartford. Another fun-filled day with friends and family!
Friday
My last day :( I had a couple appointments, did some errands, and kind of just hung out before the trip back Saturday morning. My mom and I had our nails done that evening, and then we all spent the rest of the night watching some TV and relaxing.
Saturday
And then it was back to NJ early Saturday morning. It was a whirlwind week, but I had so much fun seeing everyone. I only wish I could have been there longer! The trip home was a quick one, since I left around 6 am. There was no one on the road, and I got back a little before 10. Just enough time to do a bit of cleaning, unpacking, and then repacking for Ian and Michele's wedding in PA!
It was the first black tie event that we have been to, and it was a blast! We had a wonderful time, and were happy to be able to celebrate with Michele and Ian. We spent the night in a nearby hotel, and stuck around for brunch the next morning as well.
Sunday
CRASH. After having so much fun visiting everyone the week before, and then our late night at the wedding, BearFace and I were exhausted, and spent Sunday lounging around on the couch.
New Year's Eve
Our New Year's Eve looked like this. After seeing Django Unchained Monday afternoon, we picked up some Chinese food, Ben and Jerry's, and sparkling cider (that's right, the non-alcoholic kind), and plopped ourselves on the couch for the rest of the night. Didn't even make it to midnight. Not our most exciting night, but it was nice to stay in and spend some quality time with my favorite guy...Murphles! Just kidding, I kind of like BearFace too.
And that's the story of our CT Christmas trip...can't wait to see everyone next time I'm back in town!
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