4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

With Mommy and I both being able to take the day after Christmas off (Friday, December 26^th), we were able to extend our official Christmas break to basically a 5 day holiday.

That meant that the fun wasn’t over just because Christmas day had passed. The morning started off with you trying on some on gag glasses that happened to stashed with some of my old toys there at Nonna and Papa’s house.

You then put them on Pandy and made him the teacher of the class…

Mommy and I decided to take you and Nana in the Lexus LX on a one hour drive through the mountains to a place called Flintstone, Georgia; where my own grandparents live, just a few miles from the Chattanooga, Tennessee city limit.

We filled up the built-in cooler with Larabars and water for snacks; and I made sure we had some DVDs for you to watch on the way there.

Of course we adults had plenty of beautiful mountain scenery to enjoy, as you sang to us…

We rarely end up visiting that side of the family during the holidays, so once we got there, I saw cousins I haven’t seen since before you were born.

To break the ice with them, and to help make you feel more relaxed, I took turns sneaking up to each one of my male cousins and pretending to punch them in the stomach; in the over-the-top style of the Power Rangers, or Marvel Universe Live that we recently saw.

“Punch the one with the white beard, Daddy!” you instructed me after you saw one of my uncles sitting on the couch.

Realizing that we had moved on from pretending to punch my male cousins to now my uncles, I “started a fight” with my Uncle Johnny (Papa’s older brother); who I would probably have to say other than your Papa, is most responsible for essentially teaching me to roughhouse at family get-togethers.

Once I “punched him” and told him that you told me to do it, he started motioning to you from across the room to “come here.”

He grabbed you by the foot and pulled you across the rug as you laughed hysterically.

Shortly after, my aunt Rosa (Papa’s youngest sister) asked you to let her take Pandy home and once you refused, she started swatting you with a roll of wrapping paper; like the way you and I played just the day before.

Horseplay really is the best way for a little boy to get to know his extended family, if you ask me.

Afterwards, I took you outside on the deck for some fresh air.

Then it was time was receive your gift from my grandmother, which couldn’t been any more appropriate for you:

A Captain America racecar and his nemesis Red Skull’s vehicle as well. You were so proud!

Before we left for a late lunch at Whole Foods, just 8 miles away, one of my cousins helped me load up Papa’s gift, a 3 ton jack, into the Lexus LX.

Once we got home, Papa showed you how the jack worked, in his shop.

And Mommy and I even ventured out and bought our new house’s washer and dryer at Gary’s in my hometown of Fort Payne, AL.

So yeah, the fun didn’t end just because Christmas day was over!

Love,

Daddy