2 YEARS & 5MONTHS - 23 Dec 2012

We're all ready for Christmas, and I'm so looking forward to tomorrow. It's the first year Liva and Laia really understand what's going on, and they understand that tomorrow we're all going to my brother's house with my parents and there will be loads of presents. They also understand that the "log" we have been giving food every night will give presents in return tomorrow. Confused? A Catalan tradition... It's the Caga Tió, a log decorated with a face and a Catalan Barretina (a kind of hat). You bring him from the forrest into your home, then feed him nuts, cookies etc. At Christmas you beat the shit out of him (literally - excuse the language but caga tió translates to shit log or shit uncle....) - his shit is small presents - chocolates or small toys. We have our caga tió all ready, Liva and Laia even understand that we have to bring him to my brother's house tomorrow.
So the plan for tomorrow is that we relax and do the last preparations tomorrow morning, after Liva and Laia's nap we all get more or less nicely dressed and go to my brother's house around 15:00. We will do the caga tió for half an hour or so, then the kids will play while we get dinner on the table. Around 17:30 we'll eat - roast, duck, potatoes and gravy followed by a rice/almond dessert (which I'm making this year!). After dinner we will clear the table and get the kids out of the room while my dad and brother light the candles on the tree. Then we all come into the living room and admire the tree, hold hands and walk around the tree while singing carols - a Danish tradition... After 4-6 songs we FINALLY start with the presents! One present at a time so everyone sees what everyone gets. I'm excited to see how the girls will manage such a long night, but they've been sleeping until about 7:30 the past couple of days, and are managing the evenings much better, I am sure they'll be fine tomorrow. There will be so many presents and so many things going on, they won't have time to realize they're tired (I hope!). Christmas with kids is so much fun, I haven't been this excited about Christmas for many years! :)

If you want to know more about the Caga Tió, you can see a funny video on youtube.

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