Sub-Zero New Year

David and I spent Christmas in London again this year.  Jeff flew in from Texas for his winter break, so Karen and Laura hosted the three of us at their house in Surrey.  The weather was terrible, windy and rainy, so we spent the week relaxing indoors.  We slept in every day, decorated cookies, read, played games, finished a jigsaw, and watched a lot of Xmas movies!

One night, the boys and I ventured out to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland to check out the German food, European craft stalls, and of course – the rides.  David and Jeff are posing with the star of the Mousetrap rollercoaster.

One lazy afternoon, we dressed up Kirby in a festive necklace and antlers.

After Boxing Day, I flew to Connecticut to spend the week of New Year’s with my family.  Unfortunately David had to work, so I went back to the states solo this time.  And as I feared, travel in and out of the Northeast was a disaster!

On the bright side, because my layover from Chicago to Hartford was extended to 7 hours, I had plenty of time to eat dinner, have a slice of hot chocolate/salted caramel Eli’s Cheesecake for dessert, and pick up a tin of Garrett’s popcorn.

It took a Herculean effort to get home, though, once Winter Storm Hercules hit!  Because my Friday flight to DC was delayed by more than 3 hours, I knew I would miss my connecting flight out of Dulles to London.  So after spending hours on the phone with United and at the desk speaking to reps, they were finally able to find me a seat on a flight out Saturday evening instead.  Which meant I was spending the night in DC, if I could ever get there!

After I did finally arrive at midnight, it took more than 3 hours to try and find my bag (which never came through) and get a taxi to the hotel my dad had kindly booked for me using his reward points. They stopped running the Hilton shuttle after midnight.  By the time I realized the shuttle wasn’t coming, it was 2:30 in the morning and about 5 degrees outside!  There was a German family next to me also waiting, so we decided to share a cab.  When we re-entered the airport to get in the taxi line, the queue wound itself all the way back to baggage claim!  When people realized that was the line for a taxi, some burst into tears.  And I didn’t blame them.  Hilton told me they started running their shuttle again at 4 AM so we joked that by the time we got a taxi, the shuttle would be back.  Luckily, that was not the case.  The line moved fast enough that we got a taxi and I was in bed by 3:15.

Some people had decided to try stand-by the next morning for flights out of DC, so they hunkered down in the airport Friday night.  I needed some rest, so I decided to sleep rather than go back to Dulles at 6:00 to try and get on the 8 AM London flight.  So I slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and then started the chaos all over again. (I was just glad I was traveling solo, I felt so bad for families with a ton of tired kids trailing behind them!)  First stop – baggage claim to try and find my bag and ensure it would be on its way to London later that night with me.

This is just one small area of baggage claim.  The entire ground floor of Dulles looked like this!  After searching for about 20 minutes through the mess, I decided to wait in line to speak to an agent.  Amazingly, United figured out that I was booked on the later flight out that day and my bag was tied to my new ticket.  Success!

After sitting around the airport for another 4 hours, I was finally on a flight back home!

It was a hassle, but it was all worth it to see my family and this kid!

While in Connecticut, we spent the majority of our time hanging out at Emily’s and Kendal’s house, watching movies and playing with Bailey.  I learned that having an active 16-month-old is hard work!  She never stops!  She doesn't just sit and watch a kiddie movie or color or read a book.  Instead, she runs around all day, only napping for about an hour in the afternoon.  It was exhausting watching Emily chase after her daughter from morning to night… plus I had a cold for the first couple of days and couldn't imagine having to go-go-go when I wasn't feeling 100%.  Now I know why they say moms don’t get sick days! 

Bailey showing me her favorite ornaments on the tree,

and how she loves to go grocery shopping,

her monkey, Kokomajoe,

the alarm clock Auntie Sarah and Uncle David got her for her birthday,

and her new polar bear PJ's!

Bailey is growing up so fast, so I'm really happy that I got to spend a whole week with her. It's amazing how much she's changed in the 6 months since I last saw her in Puerto Rico. 

Dad taught Bailey this great dance to 'Colors of the Rainbow.'  She was obsessed with that song!  (And no, that's not David singing 'Wake Up Bailey.'  We got that alarm clock made at Hamleys in London, it just sounds a lot like him!)

On Monday, Mama got some 1-on-1 time with Bailey when she stayed back with her all day while the rest of us went skiing in Massachusetts at Butternut Mountain.  

It was Elizabeth’s first time skiing, so I took the beginners class with her, and then we headed up the mountain to try a few green runs.  With names like the Pied Piper and Cruiser, we didn’t think those greens would be very hard.  My experience with greens has always been really positive.  Well, the Pied Piper and Cruiser were not greens in my book!  Unfortunately we were already at the top and Elizabeth was stuck, so we carefully made our way down to the bottom and she called it quits.  After lunch, Dad and I did a few more runs together before turning in our skis as well. 

Elizabeth’s 'before' picture on the ski lift (she was too upset to get any ‘after’ pics).  We should have known it was going to be pretty steep since it took 15 minutes to get to the top of the mountain on the ski lift!

At the top of the Pied Piper run

Emily and Kendal were also happy to leave shortly after lunch, after snowboarding down Black Diamond after Black Diamond.  They kept getting lost down the mountain and going down black runs instead of staying on the greens and blues.  They both had some pretty bad bruises to show for it!

During the week, we also made a trip to Gillette Castle and Mystic.

Gillette Castle was built by William Gillette, an American actor, in 1914.  After he died, the state took over the property and its grounds and transformed them into a state park.  Unfortunately the castle is closed during the winter months, but we were still able to walk through the park and take pictures at the property.

The almost-frozen river below the hilltop castle

Bailey wanted to run all over the park, even though it was freezing outside!

'Let me go!  I want to run around!'

'Okay, I'll take this one nice picture and then I'm free, right?'

From Gillette, we drove to Mystic for lunch at Mystic Pizza, the setting of the Julia Roberts movie from the late 80’s.  

Main Street

So full!

Mystic River

We enjoyed four different pizzas before Mom and Emily had their fortunes read at a local physic.  I don’t think they were satisfied with the vague predictions made about their future... but we were all excited for the future by ringing in the New Year together back home!

The ladies got matching PJ’s from Emily and Kendal for Christmas.  Only 3 of us in this photo made it to midnight.  Bailey and her mama needed their sleep!  The rest of us stayed up to watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Happy New Year!  

(That hat was my dad's and no one else was allowed to wear it, according to Bailey.  Every time Bailey saw it lying around, she'd pick it up and bring it to my dad.)

We can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store! David and I are looking forward to spending more time with friends and family, and exploring new places around the world. We hope everyone's holidays were as restful and fun as ours.  Here are just a few more pics:

Bailey and me in our reindeer outfits (She never looks happy to be in matching outfits with me.  She's probably thinking, why does my almost-30-year-old aunt dress like a toddler??)

Snow falling outside the kitchen window

We celebrated Christmas late once I (and my gifts) arrived.  Doesn't Bailey look adorable in those pearls?  

Deer in the backyard