Savoring the Sun

Boxing Day. 

I think we probably should have been either picking up from yesterday, or serving others, as is the intent behind Boxing Day -- or "day of good will." 

But... well... it was sunny.  All plans out the window -- let's go!

We headed out to Silver Lake, about 45 minutes east of the house, to explore.  Our goals?  1) Find the beaver dam  2) See if the lake was frozen.

Oh, and 3) enjoy some beautiful scenery, quiet and sunshine.

Found:  beaver dam!

Come on!  Let's keep moving, people!

Kerry doesn't like to be rushed.

Bonus:  more evidence of beavers!  Pretty neat.  But, sad for the tree.  He won't be here next year. 

Great shadows this time of year.  Even in the middle of the day.  Not sure I really paid much attention before...

Found:  Ahhh... the lake.  Yep, she's frozen alright. 

Beautiful.  Cold.  Peaceful.

The girls experimented for a bit with the notion of "frozen."  How frozen is frozen?  Will this rock make it through?  What about this one?  Fun!!

 

But then, it was time to head back.  The cold was getting at us and it was time for food. 

Hop on the Silver Lake Street Car!

Nah, let's just race.

Hey, Jenica did you have fun?

Do you really have to ask?

Christmas: Chaotic but Joyful

Every year, I try.  I swear.  I really do try to take decent pictures of the kids opening their presents on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day.  But every year, it's pathetic and I fail miserably.  Here are few to prove my point.

Honestly, I cannot even figure out what the heck setting to have the camera on to take a halfway decent photo of the tree.  It looks like "CIA Tree" here -- all shadowy and hiding-out-like.  Weird. 

Oh well.  Really, it's not nearly so spooky.

The calm before the storm.

Truth be told here, I have to admit that the kids behaved much better this year.  They seem to understand that Mom and Dad cannot stand Christmas-Present-Opening-Orgy-Behavoir, and they were much better about taking their time and actually LOOKING at what they had opened before asking, "can I open ANOTHER one????" 

So, I try to have the kids look at me and smile and this is what I get. 

That crazed, kooky look from one and the other one just flat out ignores me.

  Oh, she'll smile sweetly for you, but you have to be willing to wait for it.

'Cause it's only going to happen on HER terms.  (And once she is sporting a new necklace from big sister).

Mostly, I got this.  One things for sure, they were absorbed.  Girls with work to do.

And interestingly, they were happy to help each other open, with the caveat:  "You're gonna share this with me, right?  Right???? You will?  Right?"

In any case, we are done with "I wonder what's in THIS one???" until next year. 

And my response to, "Do you think Santa will come again tonight??  By accident?" is that Santa may sometimes make mistakes, but I know -- he is NOT coming back until next year. 

Santa needs, and deserves, some down time.

:)

Missing the Snow

OK, so this is what it looked like here yesterday:

and what it pretty much looks like here all winter long:

Dark, wet, foggy, a bit on the mossy side.  The only thing missing from these pictures is the sideways, blowing rain. 
But LAST week we had this:

Happy kids!

Having fun!

But, really, you just can't do this:

or this

if it's raining. 

(Can we have more please?)

Taking the Oath

Well, it's official.  Jenica is now a real Daisy Girl Scout!  We attended her "Investiture Ceremony" where the girls recited their pledge, discussed the parts of the Girl Scout promise, and sang some songs for us.

Jenica receives her pin from Mrs. Bergman.

The swearing in.

An official Daisy with her fellow Daisies.  :)

Lots of fun stuff planned for the upcoming year.

Now I just have to get busy sewing those patches...

Back to the Ballet

A first for Kerry May, second time around for Jenica: TheNutcracker Ballet!

(music from which I've been listening to the girls hum now for nearly a month).

Well, the day finally arrived: get out that fancy dress!

We met up with friends again this year and the excitement was palpable:

Jenica and her good friend Roisin in the lobby

Really though, they could barely contain themselves:

Honestly, I was a bit concerned how this energy was going to be contained in the theatre.

But really, once we got settled, they were much more "ladylike."

Jenica, Roisin, and Alice chat before the show begins

Kerry squirmed around some on her booster seat, but when the show started, she was mesmerized.  Up until the last 14 minutes of the show when suddenly her head hit my shoulder with a thump! 

The excitement was just too much I guess. 

May Sugar Plum Fairies dance in your head too this holiday season!

Annual Sacrifice of the Christmas Tree

Well, we decided to return to the scene of the crime from last year:  Fullner's Tree Farm in Everson. 

Super nice people.  Great little spot. 

This was the first year that Kerry was truly mobile -- woo hoo!  (or so we thought... really, sometimes we forget ourselves and how old the kids really are.  But more on that later...)

They started out having a blast of a time -- adventuring!

This one is my favorites.  The tree farm is quite large and several times we lost sight of the girls.  We could still hear them and wound up playing a big of "Marco - Polo!" in the trees. 

Then, we spotted her:

We said our "thank you" and "we're sorry" and down she came.

Then, suddently, that was it for Kerry May. She was done.  Frozen.  And it started: "uppy uppy!"

So, Stefan had to carry her and the tree.  Our budding photographer took this shot.  Not bad...

Loaded her up and ...

Got Kerry some hot cider.

All better now.

:)