Different Kinds of Life Part 3

Around Christmas time Samuel had been waiting for winter vacation to start and counted down for the school day to end. At 3:30, the bell rang and he rushed out of the classroom with his classmates. After a rough beginning of the school year, it was a much needed break. His mother Kimberly, older sister Charlotte and younger sister Anne had prepared to go on a mountain trip and Samuel started to pack his bags a day after school had closed for vacation and Kimberly had helped him and Anne with their homework assignment. On a long dark and bumpy road there were barely any sounds but there were three snoring children. In order to save themselves from a long and boring car they left at eight in the morning for their mountain trip. They were driving up to a small place called Big River. They arrived in Big River, North Carolina at four in the afternoon. The first event they all had planned was taking the children to a hike in the forest to see the mountains and the waterfalls that present the water for the river. Upon hiking with a medium sized backpack she realized that she could have wore better shoes to hike in. Their next stop was to Bison City. They took the kids to see the city's train station which had been closed years earlier and became part of a museum. They saw the bright Christmas tree in the center of the city. Kimberly was looking around and saw other mothers with their children waiting in line to see Santa Claus and it reminded her of the times she went as a kid while she was doing the same with her kids. It reminded her of all the times when carolers would come by the house she had lived in when she was younger. She and her sister Maria often made christmas cards for their classmates when Maria was in the fifth grade and Kimberly was in the fourth grade. She enjoyed watching them smile and singing along to carols as they were still in line. After seeing Santa they went to the food court and had hot chocolate and very sweet and chewy chocolate chip cookies. For the next couple of days they did some sightseeing around Leighville, the neighboring town. They stayed in a hotel with an indoor pool for the kids to swim in. Eventually the day before Christmas eve, Kimberly drove the kids back to New York to celebrate the rest of the break. By the time they all had arrived back in the city it was the middle of the afternoon and Kimberly drove to her mother’s, Katherine, house as her family still lived there. Looking through the pictures, her favorite part was taking the kids to the restaurant. Kimberly, still tired from the long drive back, took a quick nap after briefing unpacking half of her bags. The next day became Christmas Eve and Kimberly and Katherine had placed a few presents under the tree they made before the trip to Big River. Katherine also helped Kimberly make Christmas cookies and a gingerbread house with Charlotte, Samuel and Anne. They placed the carefully decorated house on the living room table and they later took pieces off and ate them. The next morning was Christmas and everybody had woken up early to open up their gifts. While doing so, they all heard the doorbell. Kimberly goes to see who it is and opens it, seeing that it is her older sister Maria. Everyone was surprised to see her as she did not say she was coming over, especially with her own kids. During the afternoon, all the family members sang a couple of songs and talked about what they all did during the year.