He also got some Union Cavalry soldiers. I think I'll be buying toy soldiers for the rest of my life. There are different soldiers for all the different wars you know. He can tell which soldier goes with which war by the gun they are carrying. (Note to toy soldier manufacturers: Always, ALWAYS put the right weapon with the right soldier with the right war - there are 14-year-old boys out there who know the difference!)
I think this was his favorite gift. A new paint ball gun. He was quite surprised by this one. He kept asking me if I had gotten it yet and I told him that I think they must have been out of them because there wasn't one like he was describing at the hobby store we go to. Was he sure that is where he saw the gun he wanted? You know, the normal Christmas fibbing... It helped that when he woke up at 5 a.m. it didn't look like there was a gun under the tree since the gun was disassembled and in a smaller box.
And for the Adidas shoes... This box actually held the paint ball vest he had been wanting. It holds the air tank in a pouch on his back so that he doesn't have to have the air tank attached to the gun. It looks more real this way...
We even remembered to get an air tank filled up so that he could shoot his new gun right away. That is the mistake we made a couple of years ago with his first paint ball gun. He got the gun and an air tank. Who knew the air tank could be explosive had they shipped it with the air in it? Live and learn.
Alex, on the other hand had been lied to all month. She wanted a laptop computer. I told her there was absolutely no way she was going to get a laptop because they were so expensive. I told her Santa might bring her some money and she could add that to the money she would be getting from grandparents and she could order herself one after Christmas. So, that was her plan. When they came downstairs at 5 a.m. and opened and rewrapped one of their presents she luckily opened a Wii recharger. So, when she came down Christmas morning to open presents I think she was already a little bummed. A Wii charger? She didn't even ask for that... She opened two of her three gifts from Santa and left one of them laying on the floor and started on her stocking stuff. I think the remaining gift looked like a clothes box to her. Long and flat. Finally, she got around to opening that third gift.
I missed her initial expression - it was priceless. She was very surprised when she saw the Dell logo on the side of that last box.
And it was pink. And she was very happy.