The Athni family decided to planned to spend Christmas week in Orlando. Purna Murthy, in late November, decided he had "too much vacation time" so he also decided to go to Florida during Christmas week.

Prior to Christmas Week, Purna, Jessica, and Tejini spent a few days in South Florida, near Ft. Lauderdale. They subsequently drove up to Orlando on December 20. The Athni family drove down from Macon to Orlando, also on December 20.

On the evening of December 20, Purna, Jessica, & Tejini drove to the Athni family's resort, Bonnet Creek, so we could all have dinner together. Tejini and Tejas enjoyed playing with each other, as well as watching some Disney fireworks from the balcony.

On Sunday, December 21, we all decided to go to Downtown Disney, where we walked around, enjoyed the wonderful weather, did some shopping, and spend some quality time together.

On Monday, December 22, the Athni family drove to Purna's resort, Mystic Dune, (we were only 4 miles apart in Orlando, both being next to Disney World). At Mystic Dune, Purna rented some bicycles for everyone. It was quite fun watching the ladies ride the bikes, as well as the men attempt to show off their biking prowess. In the end, Tejas had the most stamina and beat all of us. We also played putt-putt golf, after which we were all tired. We headed back to Purna's room, where Purna ordered pizza for everyone.

On Tuesday, December 23, Purna & Jessica took Tejini to Magic Kingdom. In Disney, Tejini had a lot of fun watching Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of the Disney crew. They also saw the holiday parade, which is a special parade choreographed just for the holiday season.

While they were in Disney, the Athni family went to Universal Studios. Tejas had a lot of fun riding most of the rides, although there were a couple of rides which he could not go due to his height (Tejas is 51", and these rides require you to be 54"). But the most fun rides were the Simpson's ride and the Woody Woodpecker Nuthouse Roller Coaster.

On Wednesday, December 24, Purna & family came to Bonnet Creek, where we all went swimming. We relaxed on the "lazy river", then swam in the large pool, then relaxed in the hot tub. Tejas swam alone, while Tejini swam with her father. After the pool experience, everyone took a shower, and we all went to Downtown Disney, where we heard a small concert put on by a band called "Nova Era", who played classical music in a new age style. It was quite a thrilling performance.

Since Wednesday was Christmas eve, Tejas and Tejini exchnged some nice gifts. Late at night, around 11 pm, our old friend, Mahesh Shah and his family drove up to Orlando from Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed up till 4 am talking and having fun. Tejas slept early since the next day was Christmas Day, and Santa would not come if he was awake.

Early the next day, Thursday, December 25, Christmas Day, Tejas got up to find that Santa had indeed come to Florida and dropped off some gifts!!

Purna, Jessica, and Tejini then came to Bonnet Creek for a short while before they headed off to the airport. After they left, it felt quite lonely as it was quite fun watching Tejas and Tejini play together. In the afternoon, Sudhir and Tejas spent a few hours in the pool again.

On Friday, December 26, Murali and Geeta, our friends from the 1980's, came to visit us as well. They were in Orlando visiting their daughter, Shubha. They spent a couple of hours just chit-chatting before they had to return to thier house.

On Saturday, December 27, the vacation came to a close. The Athni family drove back to Macon. Upon returning Macon, Tejas found some additional presents which Santa had dropped off near the chimney !!

Christmas is a time to spend with friends and family. We were blessed to have been able to spend Christmas 2008 with not only our immediate family, but Purna, Jessica, and Tejini. Such memories will last a lifetime. I hope future Christmas' will be as special as this one was.