The Holidays: A Photo Journal

Giving you what you came here for - photos. No words, just pitcherz.

Things started out with a proper train ride with Santa a few weeks back. West Chester to Glen Mills and back with banjos, Santa, Caroline and hot chocolate? Done and done.

Hot. Chocolate. is. no. joke.

This is my cousin and she's awesome.

We experimented with making and decorating our own cookies this year as well. I could write a cute quip about eating the icing before it made it onto the cookies but I won't. Instead, I'll tell you that THE ICING WAS EATEN BEFORE IT MADE IT ONTO THE COOKIES.

Why not wear a Santa outfit while decorating cookies? It's Christmas dagnabbit.

Christmas morning brought with it our new favorite obsession - Star Wars. This one was inevitable. And of all of the obsessions so far, this one is by far the best.

But this train obsession is quite great as well. I mean, who doesn't like trains?

Christmas at home followed by Christmas at Mom-Mom & Grampa's followed by battling your own mother. That's what the holidays are all about.

Shortly thereafter, the debut of our new family band - Grampa on hot vocals, Kyle on the skins and Vincent on low-slung guitar. Full disclosure: this was the first time I ever played Rock Band. I'm old. And yeah, we destroyed it.

A foot of snow, highs of 8 degrees and winter's glistening splendor = a week in Vermont!

I'm ready to ice skate! ARE YOU!?

Wait a second. This is ice. These are blades that are the width of a pencil and I just learned to walk about 20 months ago. Logically, this doesn't compute.

This guy took to it immediately. He was literally running across the ice, pushing these milk crates. I mean - skatin' ain't easy people!

Chillin' before the next run. I was waiting for him to take a swig of a water bottle like a goalie.

Ah - solid ground.

There really is no better way to wind down than to count and organize some antique Star Wars figures.

And hey - sorry for the wait, friends. Things is crazy. It won't take 3 weeks until the next one. For serious.

Happy New Year (Not Really a New Post)!

I know, I know! So neglectful. We've got a lot to show you, friends. Christmas, post-Christmas trip to Vermont, assorted fun and games.

But not yet. Getting back to the grind has been more difficult than expected and thus, this cuteness dissemination portal has been left dormant.

Not for much longer, friends.

I promise.

Sorry, Kate.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Came Early This Year

Vincent had "Santa's Secret Shop" at school this past week. You know, where you get to shop at school with "your own money" and they help you pick and wrap the presents. Vincent loved this. So much so that he didn't want to wait until December 25th to give us all our gifts. Christmas came on December 15th this year.

He was intensely proud of this activity, which was so cool to see. He had never had the experience of independent shopping before. And he was practical to boot. Check out what I got - it's an ice scraper inside a warm and fuzzy mitt! And it's personalized!! How appropriate for this past weekend, too.

Our child has done his part to help the GDP. And he's proud of it.

Christmas Spirit?

You may remember this. Or even this. Well I apologize but this year's version isn't nearly as exciting. I still kind of love it for different reasons, though. It's like they're thinking, "C'mon. That all you got, dude? Entertain me. Some ear flapping and tail wagging and I'm supposed to be impressed?"

It's also a very honest representation of the past few months. The stir-craziness caused by too much time at home recovering from the latest minor illness has us all in a bit of a trance. We need some serious time away from...stuff.

Now if it started speaking to each of them specifically and reciting their Christmas lists, then we'd be onto something.

Don't let me downplay their excitement for the holidays, though. They're at great ages for this time of year and we're trying to involve ourselves in as much as possible. You gotta get it in while you can, right? Soon enough they'll be waiting for a real dog to be shaking it's ears and tail on the floor, singing holiday songs.

No. We're not getting a dog.

Yet.

The Island of Misfit Toys

The handiwork of a three year old with a multitude of Christmas knick knacks at his level. Headless Nutcrackers. Maimed Santas. Busted ornaments. All collected on the kitchen counter for eventual gluing. You think they come alive at night to sing and dance?

Masked Medicine Man

This is what happens when you don't take your medicine. This masked figure will approach you and force you to take it. DON'T YOU FORGET IT.

I Am Your Father.

This is the greatest. Some of Vincent's friends have been talking to him about Star Wars. He hadn't gotten into it previously so now he's curious. A few weeks back, we rented the first one (Episode IV, the real first one), sat down and watched the whole thing. The film is pretty heavy on politics and setup but he enjoyed several moments and wanted to know more about the characters.

I told him I had a whole case full of guys in Mom-Mom's basement and that blew his mind. We picked them up and he hasn't been the same since. Constantly taking them out, setting them up, putting them back, asking names, affiliations, what the other movies are like. I'm completely geeked out and heartwarmed at the same time. We've got Empire and Jedi set to record later this week (is Jedi too much for a 5 year old? Jabba, the Rancor...) and we're both equally pumped.

I'm sure this is a common thing among 30 something Dads - reliving the Star Wars glory days. My question is, how come it still resonates with kids? What is it about Star Wars? Is The Force real?