Cutie Pies and No-one Flies

 At the gracious invitation of my brother Jaron and his family, Mark and I spent Christmas in Alabama. The more memorable parts of the trip were (of course) the nieces, and flight cancellations, with other highlights sprinkled along the way.

As a warning, I took many pictures of Eliana, and not so many of Angela...because Angela is a fiercely independent and very active 2-year-old learning how unfair the world can be.

The first thing to know about these cuties is that shoes--particularly ones that are too large for their little feet--are fascinating to them. Angela had a decided preference for her mother's high heels, whereas Eliana aimed mainly for her sisters' boots [except for that one time she wanted us to help her put on her mom's flip-flops, which really doesn't work when your entire body is only twice as big as the shoe itself]. Their shoes-of-choice meant that Eliana toddled with bowlegs, and Angela shuffled/clomped while trying to look as princessly as possible.

Pickleball Tree

The second thing to know is sort-of a continuation of the first: they are unintentionally funny. Angela is being potty-trained, and likes to shout "Mommy's turn!" or "Daddy's turn!" whenever she needs to use the restroom, or thinks she needs to use the restroom, or maybe just wants some attention. Eliana isn't really speaking yet, so when she wants food [or possibly just something in general] she baby-signs "more", and, if particularly hungry, will stick her tongue out while oscillating it from side to side.

There were out-and-about things we did that included nieces--such as going to See's Candies [where Eliana was fascinated by the escalator] and looking at Christmas trees [Angela's favorite was the Elsa tree]--and some that didn't. Well, one that didn't: a Christmas concert featuring violinist Jenny Oaks Baker, with her family of cello, guitar, and piano, as well as a soloist [forgot her name; used to be on Celtic Woman] and ballerinas and Irish-style cloggers [my personal favorite].

As with all young children, there were times when Angela and/or Eliana would have meltdowns, but as I didn't take pictures of these moments, we can just acknowledge their presence and move right along.

Christmas Day started with 9am church, and the delay in opening presents didn't bother the nieces at all, since they didn't understand the concept of Christmas anyway. For the adults' benefit, then, after church we got back in pajamas and coaxed little ones through unwrapping gifts. Mark and I got space and science picture books for them, which Eliana briefly showed an interest in. Angela seemed more interested in the makeup brush I had thrown away than in any of the books, but I still have hopes they  will come around to them eventually.

Twinning without eyebrows

Eliana and I were twinners

Mark and I were supposed to fly out the day after Christmas, but due to as-yet-unknown reasons, our flight was cancelled, and no other flight was going to DC that day. Which meant we stayed a night in Nashville. In a hotel, thankfully [not that the airline compensated us for that, but it did beat sleeping in the airport]. For dinner we ordered Panda Express, and I got an eerily accurate fortune.

We were not the only flight that got cancelled, and actually I quite enjoyed hearing "Will a Southwest manager or supervisor please go to Gate XX to talk to their employees?" as well as "Paging any Allegiant representative to Bag Claim X NOW to talk to their customers" over the airport loudspeakers. Clearly we weren't alone in our travelling frustrations, and there is some comfort in that kind of solidarity.