Tag: holidays (Page 9 of 19)

Christmas 2016

December 27, 2016 / DB

A very busy and fun first quarter of our Christmas break is in the books. As is required of anyone who still runs a personal blog, here is a rundown of the past few days.

The girls were not released from their academic responsibilities until 1:00 Thursday. By comparison, the neighborhood kids all finished the previous Friday, so our girls felt like they got a late start. They do go back a week later than the neighbors, so it all evens out.

Friday evening we went out to dinner with our neighbors and then took all the kids to Christmas at the Zoo. It sounds like a lot of fun in theory, but in practice it was a bit of a letdown. Sure, there are pretty lights throughout the zoo along with other holiday decorations, but some of the animals have been removed for the winter. Others were simply locked up for the night. And even some of the animals that were still out for display had their lights turned down for the evening, so they were hard to see. Oh, and there was a steady if gentle rain the entire time we were there, which made the evening kind of sloppy. It needed to be about eight degrees colder so the rain drops turned to snowflakes, which would have been perfect for the evening.

Friday and Saturday daytimes were filled with the usual, last-minute racing around to get the house prepped for hosting folks. Multiple “final” trips to the grocery store were squeezed in between cleaning and straightening and organizing. Our first family gathering was Saturday evening for Christmas Eve. Lots of good food, the four youngest kids in the family all together for the first time, and a good kickoff to the official holiday.

Christmas Day. It’s funny how kids who have likely all figured out the Santa thing get upset when you insist they can’t wake the parents or go downstairs until at least 7:30 on Christmas morning. We had a couple arguments about this on Christmas Eve. By the time all the teeth were brushed, the fire was lit, and the obligatory pre-gift pictures were taken, the girls finally got at their presents around 8:00.

M got a Fujifilm Instax camera, a Vera Bradley cross-body clutch, a new volleyball, and a sweatshirt for her future high school. C got a Yogibo, new headphones, a neck pillow, and a Boogie board. L got a stunt drone, a teepee tent, and headphones. The family gifts were a couple games and a karaoke machine. In addition, they each got some fancy colored pencils and coloring books and other arty gifts from various aunts and uncles. They each seemed pretty pleased with their overall hauls.

After that, the two big family events of the day: brunch with the immediate family and then afternoon dessert when a handful of the extended family joined us. In all, we had guests for nearly 11 hours on Sunday. It was a long, tiring, but very good day.

Monday it was spring-like here in central Indiana.[1] L and I hit a park early so she could fly her drone on wide-open soccer fields. Later, we took the 18-month old cousin to a bigger park so all the kids could run and play. The afternoon and evening was apparently 1985 here in our house. S and I watched Fletch in the afternoon.[2] The girls all got an old movie in their stockings and we selected The Goonies for our evening flick. It was in L’s stocking and she was the only one who watched all the way through. She really liked it. Amazingly, I don’t know that I had ever seen it from start-to-finish.

Our agenda for the rest of the week involves doing some more cooking and probably a trip to a local, kid-friendly indoor attraction or two. Our Denver relatives arrive late tomorrow night, and our annual family game night will be at our house on Thursday night. And likely lots of lazing around.

So it’s been a good break so far. The girls have had their moments of annoyance, but for the most part been decently behaved. Same for the adults. The Christmas music has been stashed away for 11 months, but the tree is still lit, the decorations still out, and we still have six days of the most wonderful time of the year remaining.

I hope all of you had pleasant Christmases, too.

Mid–60s and balmy. This morning the wind chills were back into the 20s. ↩
Her choice! ↩

Holiday Catalog Insanity

December 20, 2016 / DB

Over the past year or so, Drew Magary has become one of my favorite writers. Whether in his novels and collections of anecdotes about being a parent, his writings for GQ and Deadspin, or just on Twitter, he never fails to amuse me.

I might have first discovered him through his holiday-themed posts on Deadspin. You might recall when he shared his daughter’s ridiculous Christmas list and broke it all down for us.

Another of his evergreen holiday assignments is tearing apart the preposterous Williams Sonoma catalog. As always, this year’s edition is a delightful read.

The 2016 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog

As a bonus, he also ripped apart the insane letter that Restoration Hardware CEO put in the front of RH’s holiday encyclopedia, err, catalog collection.

The Restoration Hardware Catalog Intro Letter Is Lofty And Insane

If you’ve got the holiday blues, these two reads might just be the thing to jump start your jolly.

Fifteen Down, One To Go

December 16, 2016 / DB

My counting may be off – I did make a chart to double-check my numbers – but I’m pretty sure that last night was the 15th, and next-to-last, Christmas program of our girls’ school lives. Every year since 2007 we’ve had at least one school program. 2013 was the sweetest spot in that stretch, with M performing in the St. P’s 3rd grade play, C in the first grade living nativity, and L in her St. S’s pre-K play. And there were a couple years in there when we had two girls in preschool, so they were both performing in different parts of the same program; I count those as a single event.

In that run we’ve had seven preschool programs. Three first grade living nativity plays. Three second grade classes singing in the third grade play. So far, two third grade plays. And now, just next year’s third grade play left.

Anyway, L sang with her class last night. They did a fine job, at least as far as I could tell. I thought the third graders did awesome, but I also have to grade them on a curve. St. P’s installed a new sound system this past year, so you could actually, clearly hear what all the kids were saying. There were years past where only the parents and families sitting near the stage could understand what the hell the actors were saying. All the corny jokes made it to the rows farthest back this year.

Some things about these programs never change. The rush to get there before all the good parking spots and seats are taken. The parents who roll in two minutes before the performance begins, looking harried as hell, and getting frustrated that they have to stand in the very back of the cafeteria to watch. The parents who have to work the entire crowd and are still standing, talking after the lights dim. Your non-performing kids pairing up with friends and disappearing out into the hallway or to a back corner of the room where they can chat. Folks trying to video their kids, leaning one way or the other to avoid all the cameras and phones that are raised up in front of them. And then the mad crush of hyper humanity in the lobby when the program ends.

It’s a good thing the kids have fun and the performances are always good for at least a laugh or two.

Now that chapter of our holiday season is complete. Another 4.5 days of school and Christmas vacation will be upon us.

Wade, KU, & The Spirit

December 8, 2016 / DB

A few notes as I wrap up a short week in our home.

Wade Davis Trade

Wow, it was almost exactly four years ago that the Royals traded Wil Myers and others to Tampa for James Shields and Wade Davis, a trade I HATED. I guess everything worked out ok, didn’t it?

It hurt a little when the Royals couldn’t re-sign Ben Zobrist or Johnny Cueto last year. But those were expected losses. Same with Kendrys Morales this year. But trading Wade Davis to the Cubs yesterday, and willingly parting with one of the most important elements of the 2014–15 teams? It seemed like a sure thing to happen, but it still hurts a lot more, both because Wade will be pitching for another team next year, and because the official dismantling of the current Royals roster has begun.

That said, Wade was on the DL twice last year, and would be a free agent after this season. This was probably the best time to move him. I think the combination of those DL stints, and the Royals desire to get MLB-ready talent back, cut into his value a lot. Just look at what the Cubs sent to New York last July for three months of Aroldis Chapman. Shouldn’t the Royals have gotten at least as much talent back for a full year of Wader? Well, only if they were willing to accept prospects. And they weren’t.

Jorge Soler is widely viewed as a disappointment so far in his young career. But he’s still awfully young. Maybe the simple change of scenery will unlock his immense potential. Maybe Dale Sveum and Rusty Kuntz can do their magic and tap into all that was projected that he has yet to show. I think he arrives in Kansas City with a ton of pressure, though.

Four years of control of Soler – a power hitting outfielder/DH – for one year of Davis makes sense in a lot of ways. I’m not convinced it was the best trade Dayton Moore could have made. But I don’t think it’s a disaster, either. More than anything, it hurts the heart.

Of course, the other factor in the Royals favor is that Kelvin Herrera is ready to be the next great Royals closer. And the Royals have enough bullpen depth to fill in as they slide everyone back an inning. Joaquim Soria to figure his shit out, though.

Tons of Wade Davis memories. Obviously pitching the bottom of the 12th of game five of the 2015 World Series is at the top. The picture of him with both arms raised in the air will hang in the Royals Hall of Fame forever.

But I think my most vivid memory of Wade will be his role in the epic 120 minutes or so that ended the 2015 ALCS. With bad weather approaching, the Royals leading 3–1, and the heart of the Toronto lineup due to bat in the top of the 8th, Ned Yost chose to go to Ryan Madson instead of Wade Davis. An infield hit and home run tied the game. Davis came into the game three batters too late, just as the rain began coming down. A 45-minute delay allowed Royals fans to stew[1] before the bottom of the 8th brought one of the greatest moments in franchise history. But the game wasn’t over. Davis put two on with one out and the top of the Jays order coming up in the 9th. I remember hoping the Royals could get out of the inning just giving up one run, but fearful a base hit would score two. A friendly strike zone helped Davis strike out Ben Revere, and then after a masterful setup pitch, Davis got Josh Donaldson to hit a sharp grounder to Mike Moustakas at third that ended the game and the series.

The Wade Davis Experience was the Twitter description for the typical Davis outing. He always found a way to make it interesting, but he also almost always got those final outs. He will be greatly missed, and another reason for Royals fans to pull for the Cubs.

KU Hoops

OK, so I’m really enjoying this KU team. They’re blowing the doors off people, which just isn’t something Bill Self teams always do in December. I’m enjoying it because I know, as good as their guards have been playing, there are going to be nights when the shots don’t fall. And with KU’s anemic inside game, things will get dicey. The game against Davidson next week and then a trip to UNLV before Christmas should tell a lot about this team.

West Virginia and Baylor both appear to be legit. So the run to Big 12 title #13 in a row may not be as easy as a lot of experts thought a month ago.

When KU beat the crap out of UMKC Tuesday night, it was the 600th win of Bill Self’s career. Which is pretty cool. Especially given how consistently excellent he’s been at KU. You can almost expect 30 wins from the Jayhawks each year, which is crazy. Yeah, the March results could be better. But there’s, arguably, no better regular season coach in the game than Self.

I’ll write more about the Jayhawks down the road.

Holiday Spirit

Still not feeling it as much as in the past. I’ve spent more time listening to my large playlist of favorite songs of the year, hoping to get it whittled down to a round number soon, than Christmas music. Don’t get me wrong, I still probably listen to more holiday tunes than the average person. I’m just not listening to them constantly as I have in the past.

No real changes in the girls. M acts like everything Christmas-related is a chore. C keeps updating her wish list, looks for Elfie mostly as competition to L, but doesn’t watch many Christmas shows. And L is still trying to make up for her sisters’ lack of enthusiasm. It was her week to pick a dessert to make together, so we made our first ever gingerbread men. They turned out pretty good for a first effort. I think we just missed on getting the flavor perfect, but the consistency was just fine. Even M has enjoyed decorating them each night after dinner.

I’m hoping my spirit level gets a little boost this weekend. S and I are driving up to Chicago for a conference. We’ll drop the kids and school tomorrow and head straight up. Hopefully she won’t miss too much of the morning session. We’re staying right in the heart of downtown, so I’ll have plenty of cool things that are a short walk away. The forecast looks bleak for the entire weekend, so I’ll have to pop in and out of stores and attractions to stay warm rather than take long, uninterrupted walks. I’m hoping it’s not too cold so my camera doesn’t have any issues operating.[2] And we’re hoping the weather isn’t too nasty on Sunday when we drive back. But I figure downtown Chicago is going to be super Christmasy, so that might just be the little shove I need to get fully into the spirit of the season.

I called for Ned to be fired on Facebook. ↩
Another reason to upgrade – for the second time in a year – to a weather-resistant model. ↩

Thanksgiving 2016

November 28, 2016 / DB

A mostly-good Thanksgiving weekend here. Hope you had a fine weekend as well.

Our actual holiday went off quite well. We were not hosting this year, so only had to provide a couple dishes. I was doing the mashed potatoes and used a different recipe than I’ve used in the past. It became a little problematic as it took longer to get completed than I anticipated. But we were driving exactly two blocks, so we didn’t delay the family meal or anything. Excellent food all around. And the big highlight of the day was it being the first big, family gathering where all three of the new boys in our family were there. The girls loved being around their new cousins.

Friday was our annual tree puttin’-up day. I think I’ve been saying “this could be the last kid Christmas we have” for three years. But based on the enthusiasm level, I think I was finally right last year. Pre-teen #1 is clearly not into anything that has to do with the holidays and spending time with the rest of her family. Pre-teen #2 still seems into things, but I just get this undercurrent to her mood that she’s torn between acting like a single-digit kid and a double-digit kid. And #3, who is the pleaser of the group, is laying it on extra thick to prove to us that she’s still all-in; she’s the only one who seems excited to find Elfie in the morning or watch Christmas shows with me. I’ll admit my excitement for the season has been a little slow to ignite this year because our girls are clearly in a different place than they were a year ago. Maybe their moods will shift the closer we get to Christmas.

Quick question: is there a better day than Christmas card picture taking day?
Answer: Yes, there are approximately 360 days better than Christmas card picture taking day. We’ve struggled with this day ever since we became a two-kid family in 2006, I think. When they’re little, it’s just impossible to get everyone situated properly and cooperating for the time it takes to snap off a few frames. As they get bigger, there’s always one kid who is in a bad mood, which pisses the parents off, which in turn affects the other kids. Yesterday was no exception. One kid was moody. Another kid was hyper. And the other kid kept closing her eyes during pictures.

We’ve farmed out the actual picture taking to others in the past. But this was the first time since M was a baby that I was manning the camera. I shot about 250 or so frames in about at hour at two local parks. You all know I’m not a very religious person. The fact we actually got a couple keepers out of those 250 shots makes me think that miracles are possible. We were pretty happy with the final result, which should be arriving in your mail boxes in a few weeks.

Despite the drama at the parks, the girls were given the chance to pick something fun to do afterward. They selected going to a movie. So we closed out the weekend seeing Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. The girls are all way into the Harry Potter universe, S has been watching the movies, and I’m four books into the series myself. The girls liked the new movie a lot. I thought it was pretty solid. I liked how it blends some of the elements of classic comic book-based movies with the Potter/fantasy world. I’m interested to see where the series goes.

There was a lot of lying around and watching TV, reading, and brief visits from friends and family sprinkled into the break as well. Despite the usual stresses and annoyances, it was a pretty good holiday weekend.

A 30 Year Tradition

November 23, 2016 / DB

I realized a few weeks back that this year is the 30th anniversary of my all-time favorite TV episode, Cheer’s “Thanksgiving Orphans,” which first aired on November 27, 1986. I taped the show that night and held onto that tape for years. Somewhere along the way the tape either gave out or I lost it. I recorded it again sometime in the late 90s or early 00s, and it became an integral part of my Thanksgiving celebration. The year we found ourselves without a VCR, I sprung for the Cheers season five DVD collection. Every year in November I say to myself that I’m going to revisit that entire season. Every year, I watch just the one episode.

My love of the episode has become a bit of a running joke for those of you who follow me on Facebook. I usually make an announcement that I’ve poured myself a nice distilled beverage and am about to put the DVD in. Some years I post a few of my favorite lines. One year I “live blogged” my viewing, sharing roughly half of the show.

It’s always been something I’ve done on my own, though. S watched it a few times in the early years we were together. But although she finds the show funny, she doesn’t have the enthusiasm for it that I do. So she’s let me enjoy it in solitude.

This year, though, I’ve decided to bump up my viewing a few hours and will let the girls watch with me. They’ve never seen Cheers before, so are coming in blind. I told them this afternoon that it was my favorite show when I was growing up, we drove by the location it was based on when we were in Boston, and there’s a big food fight. That got them interested.

I’ve always thought my love of “Thanksgiving Orphans” was unique. When I remembered this was the 30th anniversary, I went searching for articles about the show. I found the three I’m sharing below. I was pleased to learn that I’m not the only person who thinks it is likely the best episode of one of the great shows of all time, and stands on its own as one of the finest half hours of comedy.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

A Cheers family Thanksgiving ends in a big mess

Summer sitcom rewind: ‘Cheers’ – ‘Thanksgiving Orphans’

Food Fight! The Messy True Story Behind the Classic ‘Cheers’ Episode, ‘Thanksgiving Orphans’

The Most Wonderful Link Of The Year!

November 11, 2016 / DB

A little early? Sure. But since over half of the nation could use a pick-me-up, I decided to go ahead and share this.

Christmas TV Schedule

New this year, he highlights what big, traditional shows are debuting each day. Helpful for making sure you don’t miss a show that is on just a handful of times, and early in the season.

Halloween 2016

November 2, 2016 / DB

Day late, dollar short I guess.

Had a last-minute schedule change yesterday that kept me from getting out the obligatory Halloween wrap-up post. So my apologies, as I know many of you spent your entire day refreshing the site, waiting for that post to appear.

It was, perhaps, our best Halloween ever. Temps were in the low 60s and it was dry, making it an ideal evening to be out. M went as a panda. C went as YouTube sensation Miranda Sings. And L went as a Ghostbuster. As has become our routine, we had a little dinner get-together with some neighbors before the kids headed out. With it being so nice, we set up camp in our driveways, lit a fire, and set up tables for the impromptu, four-way chili cook off that resulted from four different households bringing chili.[1]

After some consulting with a few of the neighbors, we decided to give the kids some freedom to wander the neighborhood on their own. They were given strict parameters on where they could and could not go, and one family supplied walkie talkies so we could check in at any time. The kids got to make a couple forays on their own and did quite well. That gave us adults more time to eat chili and drink beer around the fire. Win-win.

As much as I enjoyed that freedom, I realized later in the night, that this was our future on Halloween. I don’t think the older girls minded at all that we weren’t going around the neighborhood with them. We kept a closer eye on L; she got separated from the bigger group once – they had all stopped at home base and they took off without her – so she made a loop with her infant cousins and the moms. When it was time to hit the house that has a haunted garage kids walk through, all the parents went along. But I think our days of spending two-plus hours with them are done.

On one hand, it was nice to just hang out and socialize, especially since we hadn’t seen a few of the families since the middle of the summer. On the other, walking around and experiencing the excitement of the night and seeing how all the other kids are dressed is a huge part of the holiday for parents. We had a great evening, but I don’t know Halloween-y it really felt to me.

The girls loaded up on candy, which made them happy. We had fewer trick or treaters at our door than we’ve ever had. Although we were out in the driveway, we set a bowl at our front door with a sign to help yourself. When we closed things up for the night at 8:00, the bowl was still like 80% full. Of course, the year I finally stop buying so much is the year that our neighborhood gets a fresh wave of kids and we run out at 7:30.

Good weather, good food, and good gatherings for the girls. And this year I didn’t have to avoid a World Series score all night! A pretty solid way to kick off the holiday season. All the parents agreed we need to petition the neighborhood, though, to always have Trick or Treating on the last Friday or Saturday of October. This school-night stuff sucks!²²

Mine rocked. I did my usual adjustments to the recipe as I cooked and was a little worried about how it would turn out. But the end result may have been my best effort ever. Which is saying something. I make good chili. ↩

Holiday Weekend

July 5, 2016 / DB

We had big plans for the holiday weekend. Unfortunately Mother Nature got in the way.

The Fourth of July weekend is normally a family gathering time at our lake house. This year we had our family from Boston coming in, along with most of the locals. Which meant we added a one-year-old to the mix. Plus two babies. In a small house. And then it rained most of the weekend.

Guess what? Everything turned out pretty great! All the little ones dealt with the close quarters and lack of outside time well. More importantly, our girls did really well. There was minimal whining about being bored.[1] I think having their cousins around was a fine distraction.

We only got one boat ride in Saturday, which was cool and cloudy and threatening, but stayed dry until late in the afternoon. It was one of those rare summer days when the water was warmer than the air, so the kids were happy to swim and play on the water toys around the dock. L did some fishing, and caught the biggest fish she’s ever caught. She came running up to the house yelling, “Dad! I caught a fish this big!” with her hands about 18” apart. We ran down and saw she indeed got a good-sized bass, but closer to 12” than 18”. She’s obviously turning into quite the fisher as she’s exaggerating about the size of her catches!

Sunday was pretty much a total washout, with heavy rain off-and-on all day. We still squeezed in a big family meal for lunch, then naps for a lot of us as the kids watched movies. The real fun kicked in Sunday evening when the power went out for about five hours. Thank goodness it was relatively cool outside or we would have been miserable without A/C.

We packed up much earlier than planned Monday and came home for another lazy day. We stayed up and watched fireworks from Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston but that was the extent of our Independence Day celebrating.

Today we’re off to the zoo with the Boston family. After three days in the 60s and 70s, it’s supposed to be pushing 90 and humid. Timing, man, timing.

Now there was some whining. But less than I feared. ↩

Weekend Notes

May 31, 2016 / DB

We had a very solid, if slightly less hectic than usual, Memorial Day weekend.

L and I kicked it off Friday with her class field trip to [Conner Prairie]. This is the one field trip I’ve done with all three girls. As always, it was a lot of fun. The forecast has us worried we would get wet, but the storms never popped up and while it was warm, it never got super hot like it did for M and I four years ago.

Normally Memorial Day weekend is a lake weekend for us. This year S was on-call all weekend, which meant we couldn’t cut out of town. Well, we could have, but she would have had to drive back every morning to round on babies. Figured it was easier to stay home.

We did get some water time, though. Some friends have a new boat on the big, suburban lake that is about 15 minutes from us. We spent Sunday with them. We got on the water early, getting wet for the first time around 10:00.

M and C both tubed with their friends. M tried to water ski! I’ve only tried to water ski once in my life, and that was sometime in the early 80s. So I had no tips for her. And our hosts forgot to tell her that if you don’t get up, let go of the rope. So she got drug face-first for a bit until she realized she needed to drop the rope. It was good for her. We were just thrilled that she made the attempt. She’s come a long way with being daring enough to try new things over the past few summers.

Sunday also featured a very weird 30 minutes or so. During that span, I received two text messages. One brought exceptionally good news for a relative who has been waiting for good news for a long time. The other brought terrible, unexpected news for a very good friend. I got them both on the boat, so was feeling elation and excitement after the first message, and was stunned and saddened by the second.

Yesterday we began trying to get things together for our trip to Boston, which begins Thursday. It was in the 90s in Boston last week, but will only be in the 60s–70s during our visit. So it’s been a bit of a challenge to figure out what clothes to pack.

The girls are very excited. They will get to spend time with their one-year-old cousin and see their aunt and uncle’s new house. If the weather cooperates we plan on doing a lot of the traditional walking-tour stuff that Boston offers. We have duck boat tickets. I’m going to a Red Sox game. And we’re spending two days on Cape Cod. This will be my third trip to Boston, but first chance to spend time in the city. I’m pretty excited, too.

But first we have to get through the last two days of school. Today is field day and tomorrow is early dismissal at 1:00. Pretty much a total waste, but I guess we have to get to 180 days so the state is happy. C has her final softball game tonight and the girls will go to their first swim team practice tomorrow night and have their intra-squad meet the day after we get back from Boston. Straight into summer activities!