Halfway Christmas: Can we get any more chill?

Okay, I get it. It's not a real holiday. It's totally fake. But fake or not, it truly does get the nod for the most low-key, low stress, low-maintenance holiday around. Which is why we love it so much!

Here I am setting up on Saturday afternoon. Yep, that's it! All the decorations for Halfway Christmas. I set up my little Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I trimmed it with one red ornament and one wooden one that says "Merry Halfway Christmas," given to me by my friend Carolynn. I lit a Christmas-scented candle. I wrapped up two presents, one for the person whose name I drew (Kennedy), and one for Isaiah, who doesn't celebrate Halfway Christmas but comes for food---(this mama can't leave him out of the gift exchange).

I was ready.

Yesterday, I re-lit the candle, and Gerald put a Christmas picture on the Frame TV. Christmas music played throughout the house.

 It really is the best day. 

Around 4:30, people began to arrive. Amanda made some yummy guacamole, and we all ate chips and guac as an appetizer. Once everyone was here, Shulamith and Amanda started frying bread to make Navajo tacos with chili, cheese, and all the toppings. 

Next, we hurried downstairs (though not nearly fast enough according to Swen, Kennedy, Theodore, and Jane) to open presents, one for each of us.

When you only have one present, I think it might be more exciting than on the real Christmas when you get so many. Delightful!

Back upstairs we went for dessert: fried scones with butter, cinnamon, and sugar! We ended the evening with a game of "Cards Against Humanity Family Edition" though with all the bathroom humor, I'm not sure it was suitable for anyone (eeeek!).

The best part of it all was having almost everyone together. Luke lives in Maryland, so he wasn't here, and Mathew doesn't like the real Christmas, so he's surely not gonna celebrate the "Halfway" version in June, but he stopped by briefly at one point to say hi.

And then it was over for another year. If you don't celebrate Halfway Christmas at your house, you should really consider it. It's the most chill holiday ever. And one of my favorites!

"Did they forget about us?" Tommy asked.

"Did they forget about us?" Tommy asked. We were in Seaside, Oregon with our parents for a holiday weekend. We went there at least once, most summers. This time we were maybe 10 and 8, respectively. Tom is two years younger than me, and the two of us were just barely old enough to be left on our own for an hour to explore the one major street in Seaside, Broadway, while our parents played Fascination. Back then, Fascination was an "adults only" game. I'm not sure why; maybe it seems too much like gambling? You pay $1.00 per game (back then, probably a quarter), sit on a stool, and roll two rubber balls down an inclined ramp to a table with holes, hoping to score a "bingo" or "blackout," as the balls fall into holes, lighting up circles in the same pattern on a board above each table. When someone wins, the game ends, and you pay another dollar if you wish to play again. Gambling? Maybe? I don't know. I think it's fine for kids, and those in power must agree because nowadays everyone, regardless of age, is welcome to play.

My mom loved Fascination, and I think my dad enjoyed it enough to play it with her, and Tommy and I were delighted to be out on our own, as kids that age typically are, a few dollars in our pockets, feeling so mature and responsible. There was a small carnival with a few fair-type rides, including the famous Octopus. The Websters are ride junkies, so that was our final destination, after eating an elephant ear and way too much home-spun taffy and fudge. By the time we got on the Octopus, the sky was darkening, with that twilight glow just between sunset and nightfall. We stood in line and rode it multiple times. By the last time, it was fully dark, and just as we were at the very top, waiting our turn to make it down to the bottom to be let off, we noticed that the ride had stopped moving. Looking around, we realized we were the only ones left on the ride at the very top, and the attendant was nowhere.

"Did they forget about us?" Tommy asked. 

"I think they did!" I replied.

I wish I could remember how this story ended. Did we scream to get someone's attention? Did our parents come find us? I have no idea. Tom, do you remember? Somehow, we got down from that ride safely, and this memory remains with us both all these years later. It's not the only one. 

Seaside remains a family tradition. My mom used to take Tom's kids and my older kids there every year to celebrate the 4th of July. I don't have any stories from those visits because I wasn't there, but I believe these holiday weekends with Grandma (my kids) / Nanny (Tom's kids) and the resulting memories are what bonded the cousins.

Two weeks ago, Shulamith and her kids, plus Eli, Amanda, Jane, and I roadtripped to Oregon to visit my mom and Tom, along with Seaside and the Oregon coast. After an overnight stop in Eastern Oregon, we finally arrived in Portland to spend one evening and morning with my mom. It was a good visit, which included a trip to Clackamas Town Center, a shopping mall much larger than any we have here. Here's a quick pic of my mom and me just outside the mall:

The 2-hour drive to seaside the following day felt so short compared to six hours in the car both the previous two days. We stayed true to the past and stopped for breakfast at Camp 18 on the way there.

We had nice weather for June at the Oregon coast; still, I was cold most of the time. While I prefer Oregon weather (especially rain!) way more than Utah weather, I think my body has become accustomed to the dry climate. We did all the typical Seaside stuff: Tilt-a-Whirl, elephant ears, fudge, taffy, and yes...we all played Fascination. The ocean was freezing as it always is and the temperature outside around 60 degrees, but the brave ones (not I) still jumped the waves and played in the sand.

Our last day at the ocean, we drove 15 minutes up to Cannon Beach. That is something I never did as a kid, and it is beyond beautiful! We went at low tide, so we could walk out and see the tide pools and all the incredible sea life. Impressive!

We returned to Portland the following day to spend another evening with my mom before beginning the two-day roadtrip home. It was a good week, and we'll all have memories, I'm sure, but none so cool as getting stuck at the top of the Octopus ride.