We have experimented with Christmas and how to give presents. We used to buy presents for everyone, but that got too expensive once the family started to grow. Then we had the “Reid Fight,” which was fun, loud, and chaotic, but not everyone could attend, so it has dwindled to a smaller event.
What we did last year, with my parents and two-thirds of my children, was to randomly draw a name out of a hat and buy $100 worth of gifts for them. A secret Santa (sort of) that no longer remains a secret minutes after we all arrive. We are repeating this for this year.
I took Caitlyn once before on a trip to the USA and tried to do so again around Christmas last year, but she had other plans in the form of surgery.
So this year I am trying again. I am calling it Shopping With Caitlyn. We are going to pop over to Michigan and do a bunch of shopping in Grand Rapids. Why Grand Rapids? Because there is a Pizza Ranch there.
Charlene and I discovered this restaurant by accident, and we desire to go there as often as we can. Sadly, Grand Rapids is the closest, and that is still a 6-hour drive.
The map of this potential trip with Caitlyn is here. No date is set because I need enough time off for Caitlyn to enjoy this mini vacation fully.
Here is the itinerary below.
