We left Montreal for the long drive to London, Ontario, to spend Christmas with Mark's family. It's about an 8 hour drive, so we took a number of long breaks to give Gabrielle some stretch time. One of those breaks was lunch at Swiss Chalet in Kingston. This was our first time ever ordering Gabrielle her own meal, and off the kiddy menu no less. Chicken fingers, veggies, all you can drink milk, and a bag of M&Ms (those went to her parents). It made us feel like she was very grown up.
"Hey, I wonder what's in this big red bag with my name on it?"
This was Gabrielle's first experience with the big red Christmas "stockings." They're actually bags as big as a laundry bag, and Gabrielle's was filled to overflowing. For a novice, she took to the spirit of Christmas immediately, and quickly figured out what to do with the pretty packages in her bag.
She worked hard all morning, tearing into her gifts. Behind her on the couch is her cousin Maggie, who had an equally enormous bag to tackle.
What was cool was that after she opened each gift, she'd stop and appreciate it or play with it. Here she is enjoying a shiny gold coin. No, it's not chocolate, Gigi.
She worked up such a sweat opening gifts, we had to take her dress off. Here she is surrounded by the aftermath of the unwrapping.
Nana sneaks in for a photo behind Gabrielle. Gabrielle's stranger anxiety makes it so hard to get photos of people with her, so we do what we can.
Here she is during the traditional crudités before the main meal, with Grandad and Kitty. It's also when the cocktails start flowing. Hey, it's noon - let's drink!
Unfortunately, Katharine was sick for a good part of our visit, so she spent almost no time with Gabrielle. This is the only photo I have of her, but it's an important one, because it shows her putting the finishing touches on the log and the trifle. I also have no photos of her husband, Ray, who was industriously working around the house during much of our visit. Next time we have to get a picture for sure Ray, OK??
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