Out of order but here is my Christmas Eve with the kids
My Christmas was on 24 December. I had the kids on Christmas Eve and then took them over to my ex’s house on Christmas day. It started on the 24th with me getting my kids around 10 am. I had told my ex where I was taking them but didn’t tell the kids. My daughter had her hair done and was all dolled up and my son for the most part dressed up as well (as well as any 12-year-old will dress up when made to). I showed up to get them and the curiosity was bubbling out of them incessantly. My son wanted to know so badly where we were going as did my daughter.
I wasn’t ready to tell them yet what I had planned for them so I told them we were going fishing. FISHING?!? they exclaimed. How do you go fishing all dressed up? I told them we were going “Fancy Fishing”. Made up a whole story where you sit on kind of like a bleachers like seating on a fancy dock in Tampa and you get a 7 course meal served to you all the while you cast your line and try for some fish. The kids wanted to know why you dressed up for it. I told them that you do it because if you wanted catch a fancy fish (like an Ahi Tuna) that would be served in a fancy restaurant you need to dress fancy to catch it. Of course they didn’t believe me but since our event wasn’t until 2 pm I had a lot of fun going into depth with my fancy fishing idea. Hell that could possibly make money as a business maybe?
So onto the actual event. I had purchased Orchestral level tickets for the Broadway Musical “Wonderland” for Christmas Eve at 2 pm. It was awesome. The whole concept is that this grown Alice who is a direct descendant from the original Alice who the “Alice in Wonderland” was written about is an author. She had been thrust into fame with her previous book and because of it her personal life was falling apart. Her husband was leaving her and her daughter never saw her. She had the deadline for a new book looming over her head and just couldn’t juggle all the balls that fame brought with it. She ended up losing her daughter into Wonderland and she had to chase after her making friends and enemies all along the way. I won’t tell you how it ended but I just want to say that the Mad Hatter was probably my favorite Character along with the “Grown Alice”.
My kids LOVED it and it was a memory we had created together. The tickets weren’t cheap but it was well worth it. Afterward we came home to my place and opened up all the gifts. I had convinced my son to get my daughter a remote-controlled car and I convinced my daughter to get my son the same remote-controlled car. When we were at my grandfather’s place in Wyoming he had a remote-controlled car for all his great grandkids to play with and my son and daughter loved it. We played with those things into the night and had a wonderful day. So my Christmas had come a day early. That didn’t make Christmas Day any easier, but those memories we shared on Christmas Eve were amazing.