Our Christmas with Claire and Easton and Folks

It was very late, Friday night, Dec. 17 that Ryan and Carrie and kids pulled in.  We enjoyed Sabbath together and then the trip to Dollywood on Sunday, and we stayed overnight in Pigeon Forge so we could "shop our way home" on Monday.

  Easton and Claire made a Christmas Bingo game that we played, along with the games Claire and I and Carrie made in previous years.

Easton and Claire are good ping pong players.  We had lots of fun around the table.

With this deck of cards, we played Old Maid and Go Fish.  You also can play Crazy 8's.

They both got into Rummy K - Claire's choice. We also enjoyed Careers, Seven Seas, Play Nine and Ticket to Ride.

Tossing the crumpled papers into the box or onto the chair to win points and contests.  Getting a pre-determined number of points would give you a chance to draw your "prize" from a variety of options - that ranged from a strawberry candy, to playing a board game of your choice, to having some carrots, to having a drinking race, to opening a Christmas present early, etc. etc.  :)

One day we went to Platts to play with their pom pups.

They must have slept good when we left!

The macaroni and applesauce are gone - he saved his vegetables till last.   Uh oh.

Randy, Carrie and Ryan went to Section, AL on Thursday and brought home a much-needed and long looked-for "puller" after selling their Suburban in October.  They bought it from John Jackson, a used car dealer!  Pretty spiffy looking I think. They got a great deal.  I hope it will serve them well.    Carrie found it on FB Marketplace.  

Opening a present, early.  They each got Bingo games - the REAL version for the first time.  Claire's may end up in her classroom - multiplication Bingo.

Friday afternoon, Christmas Eve, we opened presents.

Nice collection - a few books and a game are missing from the gift gallery, eh?

A surprise from Eddie Bauer

Merry Christmas!

Carrie's new game and shoes

The children's choir sang at the Xmas Eve service.

Singing carols by candlelight on Christmas Eve

Visiting outside on the balmy Christmas Day

We got to see John after church for a bit before he flew back to Denver a day earlier than originally planned, due to the blizzard in CO and his workers sick with Covid back at the Keystone Ranch.

 

Dec. 19 at Dollywood with Ryan and family

Learning to drive in the rain?  It was a rather heavy mist or worse for part of the day. But the crowds were there anyhow - the last day before Christmas for Bring a Friend passes to be useable.  We had to make a reservation and got one for the four passes, but couldn't get one for us.  But it was no problem getting in at the parking lot gate when we showed them our reservation. Whew!

The four of us loved the Barnstormer and rode it a few times.

Let it snow!

All of us but Randy rode the Wild Eagle how many times?  I lost track!  It was Claire's first time and she loved it.

Lights, lights, and MORE lights! Another year of enjoyable visits to Dollywood is in the record books. Christmas is our favorite time - the lights, shows and weather are hard to beat.

 

Winterthur Country Estate

Amy and Jeremy got tickets for us to Winterthur in Wilmington, DE on Sunday afternoon.  We took a narrated tram ride around the Winterthur Gardens of Henry Francis du Pont's country estate.  I'd love to see the nearly 1000 acres in the spring.  Here you see the massive "home" coming into view.  It has 175 rooms spread over 9 levels.  It's the third largest house in the US, with 96,000 sq. ft.  https://www.theactivetimes.com/travel/biggest-mansions-america/slide-19  This article says "Built in 1837, Winterthur underwent massive renovations in the 20th century by Henry Francis du Pont that doubled its size. The additions were largely constructed to hold du Pont’s massive collection of American art. Today, its 175 rooms house 90,000 objects dating as far back as the 1600s as well as research and conservation facilities."

Amy n Jeremy

This flower covered tree was amazing!

The rooms were all decorated for Christmas, so get ready!

The wall paper in this room was hand painted in China!

These flowers around the base were all gathered from the meadow on the grounds.

The peony tree

We only got to see a small number of rooms on one level. Henry du Pont and his wife and two girls lived in this mansion with his father. They also owned 3 other homes around the country!  His brother established Longwood Gardens just 15 minutes away.

the butterfly tree

In the museum we saw this dollhouse created by Nancy B. McDaniel.

one room close up from the dollhouse

We walked through their little town of North East and stopped to see this tree the Cox family helped decorate.