Christmas has never been quite the same since my mom passed away. The very first Christmas afterward, EVERYONE got together at my uncle's house on Lake Minnetonka and that was the closest it's ever been since October 9, 2001. After having my own kids, I was dead set on making it the hometown, Hallmark movie, Christmas that I remembered growing up. Complete with cousins running around, lots of food, but minus the weird Jello salad. Unfortunately, since leaving Minnesota, I don't have enough nearby family to actually make this a reality so despite my kids being generally happy, I've sort of always felt let down by the holidays.
The solution? Christmas in Maui! The emphasis was more on vacation and beaches than on the actual holiday. We were making memories with the people we loved. It was relaxing. I had a pina colada, or two. I ate sushi. I wasn't at home trying to think of what I was supposed to do next because I didn't have a jam packed schedule of visiting a bunch of people and eating two dinners for the holidays. Don't get me wrong, I love the holiday shuffle and the non-stop eating, but when you don't have it in your life you sort of feel at a loss of what to do. It was pretty perfect.
We spent Christmas Eve on the beach.
Christmas Day was more of the same. Santa even found us in Hawaii.
Then we dressed up and went to dinner and didn't take a single picture of all of us together.
Traveling over Christmas kept us relaxed and focused on just spending time together. My kids got plenty of vacation souvenirs and Santa gifts, and not being asked for the umpteenth time about when they got to open presents was certainly a relief. We're definitely considering making this a tradition.
