Adventures in Real Life: A Pennsylvania Christmas Story

Early early early on Wednesday (the 22nd) we drove to LAS and hopped a 6am (Pacific Time) flight to Atlanta, ran to our next gate and hopped a flight to BWI. The whole thing went over without a hitch, except the four-lane accident on 695 north to York, and we were at the Eisenbeil home base by 6pm (EST). Unfortunately, our clocks were all a little off so sleep was still pretty far away and it took a while to get the boys to calm down.
We were able to spend some time with Uncle Jay and Aunt Jenny and Emma and Joey Thursday for dinner (Venison! Yummy!) Friday we got to celebrate a packed 4pm Children's Mass (standing room only!) then go to Uncle John's and Aunt Cathy's to celebrate Christmas Columbian style with Cathy's side of the family. Alex, Leo, John Paul and Valentina kept Stephen and Jake very busy while the adults got a chance to catch up:-) That night Tia Claire and Tio Sebastian joined us for a full house! It took a few hours to get all the kids finally settled and into bed. We then got a chance to stay up late, catching up and wrapping presents.
Christmas morning brought us an easy breakfast, lots of unwrapping and excited chatter (new PJs, new toys, and new books! Plus a shop vac for Blaise) and the family started to make its way over. Uncle Robert and Aunt Ashley with little Aiden, Uncle David and Aunt Nicole, Uncle Jay and Aunt Jenny with Emma and Joey, Uncle John and Aunt Cathy with John Paul and Val (we missed Alex and Leo) and of course Uncle Andrew. After a BIG dinner and lots of noise we had some surprise Christmas caroling and dessert. Surprisingly, the boys went to bed fairly easily the next few nights.
The day before we were scheduled to leave (Sunday) we had brunch with the Sloan's and worried about the weather. Early afternoon the "storm" hit and the boys got a chance to see some snow and even make snow angels! It became apparent that our flight was canceled (along with just about every flight from North Carolina to Maine) and we would not make it to Vegas on Monday. So, we got another day to enjoy family! Uncle David took us tubing at Avalanche Express and we had some hot cocoa in Knickers afterwards. Lunch at Isaac's Deli (my MOST FAVORITE place to eat in York) and a movie rounded out our day and prepared us to leave by 6 the next morning.
After some fast goodbyes and a quick drive to BWI, we stood in line to check baggage for a good 2 hours before we made a dash through security ran to our gate. Luckily there were more people stuck behind us for the same flight so they held the plane an extra 20 minutes and we made it to DTW in one piece. Four hours later (after lunch, a stop at the awesome DTW USO, and some play time) we were on our way to Vegas with the luxory of two sleeping boys, complimentary in-flight TV and lots of snacks. Needless to say, the flight went well (other than the 15 bathroom trips a preggo has to make in 4 hours) and we were met at the curb by a friend and headed home where we proceeded to drop luggage and pass out.
All in all, it was a great family visit and a fun Christmas. We can't wait to have everyone head out west to see us soon:-)