During a proper party, a proper family gathering, time seems to disappear into an eternally present “now” that blends effortlessly out of the last moment, imperceptibly into the next, a continuum of laughter. A proper Christmas day, then, should be like a proper party. And what better way to start the smiles than a pile of hot waffles.

And what better activity after breakfast than to help with the Lego set the Boy got yesterday? Truth be told, it was a challenge for me to understand those instructions at times, so it’s no surprise that high on his priority list was getting some help.

We build this knowing that as soon as the snow plow is completed, it will be a focus of attention for a few days and then disappear into its constituent parts into the growing box of Legos that now must contain well over a thousand blocks, what with all the sets he’s gotten and the Lego windfall he got from his sister a year or so ago when she decided she was too old for Legos. Of course, you’re never too old for Legos, but there is a period called adolescence when you might think you are.

In the early afternoon, we all went to spend Christmas lunch with Nana. We ate some split pea soup and chatted while the children took turns rolling about in the wheelchair in Nana’s room.

Back home for the afternoon, we passed the afternoon at the table with talking with Papa while the kids played in the backyard, E still in his nice Christmas clothes that required some work when he returned because there was no way he was going out to play and not wind up at the creek that forms our rear property line. If you’re a six-year-old who has a creek in your yard, you use it.

Finally, around four-thirty, we headed to our closest friends’ house, the godfather of E (and he’s proud to remind us of that regularly)  taking with us E’s godmother — K’s sister in everything but name and DNA and so for many reasons, the closest thing we have to Polish family here.

And so the evening just began slipping away, punctuated by grand food, silly kids, discussions of camping and finding cheap flights to the Old Country, hot toddies and black coffee, jokes, singing, and just enjoying the fact that we have such good friends.

(Click on images for larger view.)

But the Boy didn’t make it. He put up a fight, tried to stay awake the entire party, but there was just no way.