Winter Break Trip - Day 3

[Mollie and I got up early (0730) and ate breakfast (leftovers) - we drove to Plymouth and went shopping for supplies and gifts - after about an hour, we continued our drive to Cape Cod and drove to Brewster, stopping to visit some more of my relatives (Dick and Judy) at 1015 - Mollie really enjoyed meeting them but especially liked their Australian Shepherd, “Finbar” - we had tea and Dunkin Donuts with them and departed at 1145 - we visited my mother’s gravestone and also stopped at the Brewster Store (1215), where I got Mollie a bag of penny candy - we then drove south through Brewster and Harwich, where I pointed out places important to my family - we ate a very light lunch (snacks in the car)- our drive later continued along MA-28 through Dennis and Yarmouth and I got to show Mollie my old schools and places where my family had lived, shopped and played - as we reached Barnstable and the edge of Hyannis (1330), we started getting “where are you?” texts and calls from Johnny - we therefore decided to head back to Hanover - there were snow flurries (Mollie liked that) and holiday traffic (we didn’t like that) - we cleaned ourselves up after we arrived at Katie’s (1415) and then drove to the North River Community Church (Katie's home church), for a Christmas Eve service - it was nice (Katie and Ella were singing) - after the service was over (1600), we got a family portrait and hot chocolate - Mollie and I then drove to a nearby Christmas Tree Shoppes store (Pembroke) to get some more supplies - Mollie really liked our almost "traditional pilgrimage" to the store) - by 1700, we were on our way to John’s brother’s (Brian’s) house for a Christmas Eve party - there, the kids changed into pajamas and watched movies while the parents hung out in another room - Mollie eventually got bored and spent almost half the evening with me - we got to see Aria and her boyfriend (Dan) - we also ate dinner (pot luck) and later opened gag gifts - at 2000, I took Mollie and Ella back to Katie’s - on the way, we looked for a gas station (something very difficult on Christmas Eve) and eventually found one in Norwell (2050) - back at Katie's house, Ella and Mollie frosted sugar cookies and I went for a walk (to get my steps) - the rest of the family arrived home by 2215 and Katie had the kids open a gift before going to bed (2300)]