Home vacation

Last year we got home from the east coast early and had a great time on vacation at home. I came to the shocking realization that if I didn't actually go to campus and sit in my office for 8-10 hours a day, no one came after me to do things. I was able to catch up on household chores, play with the kids and also get work done.

This year we had a week off of school at home. I spent the first few days convincing the kids that despite what they may have been told by their grandparents, they are not the center of the universe. Also, I do not wake up every morning with the goal of finding new and interesting ways to amuse them. That said, we had a good time this week. The kids, Danny and I did a major toy sorting and reorganization to make room for new toys. We wrote thank you notes and finished mailing out our holiday cards and newsletter. (Hint: if you didn't get one, we may not have your snail mail address!) Joseph worked on a pictorial diary of his vacation for school. I painstakingly cut and glued 100 cricket box lids, restocked the groceries and cooked about 25 meals. I got to go running during daylight hours, which Argos and I enjoyed very much.

We went to the Normal Children's Museum for their 3:00 pm New Year's Eve countdown. The kids had a good time, although a little boy snatched Joseph's truck and ran away shortly before the countdown. Joseph couldn't get the truck back because the little bruiser had a death grip on it, was too young to be reasoned with and was unsupervised. Joseph spent the countdown sulking under the table.

We looked for a hiking trail at Lake Bloomington, but found nothing. The kids enjoyed one of the many playgrounds. Argos discovered a new favorite snack plentifully spread across the ground--crunchy frozen deer poo.


The historic Normal theater was showing Wall-E. Sam and Joseph were the only kids in attendance, but they enjoyed themselves.

We went skating for the first time this season, and Joseph learned how to skate on his own!


A little girl noticed Joseph and offered to teach him to skate, and I think that her attention (you know how Joseph is such the ladies' man) may have spurred him to risk letting go of the wall.

He can skate on his own without help, and can get up from the ice without pulling up on the wall! By the end, he was getting kind of fast and reckless--next time I will have to bring a helmet for him!

Video of Joseph skating (and falling)

By the way, if you lived here, you would have gotten this delicious cookie assortment... (Yes, those are vanilla vodka/coconut rum balls.)

Christmakuh on Staten Island

We all spent an exciting time in Staten Island with Danny's family. The kids were very enthusiastic to see Grammy and Grandpa Joe (Danny won't let the kids call him 'Gramps' because it makes him think of cramps). The kids got Egyptian-themed Christmas presents, including a pyramid to excavate, a wrap-it-yourself mummy and a little archeologist with a tent and digging kit.

Joseph got to play with his cousins Cameron and Callahan and Karen, Danny's brother's fiancé.
Cameron, Callahan, Joseph and Karen

Cameron, Callahan, Mike and Karen

Due to the overlap between Chanukah and Christmas, we lit the Chanukah candles on the sideboard next to baby Jesus.
The kids lighting the candles with Great-aunt (Sister) Alyn in the background. By the eighth day, Joseph was able to light the candles and say the Chanukah prayer without help!

We took our bi-annual trip to the Staten Island Zoo. It was a misty day so very few people were at the zoo. The animals were all oddly happy to see us. The reindeer looked pretty malevolent and kept trying to escape.

The petting zoo animals were all ravenous for Rye-crisps, and the kids were happy to accommodate. Joseph was especially eager to feed the turkey. After Joseph finished dispensing crumbs, he cheerfully announced: "I'll be back to eat you at Thanksgiving!"

Mellowing out in Baltimore

Danny, the kids and I (and Argos) went to Baltimore for Chanukah. Grandma Dorinda couldn't come, so the kids got to spend more quality time with their great grandparents than usual. It was a low-key holiday, and we spent most of our time doing nothing in particular.

I think that everyone had a very nice Chanukah. Saul and Martha opening presents:

The angry young artist explains his artistic vision to his fans.

Lighting the candles. We had kind of an excess of chanukiah. I brought our two menorahs from home, and my grandparents also had two.

Later, cousin Melissa brought Aron over to visit. Sam really enjoyed playing with him, although Joseph was a little jealous and stand-offish.

We spent one morning visiting the Inner Harbor. The Torsk has received some minor restoration since last we saw it.


Joseph has been reading books independently for a few weeks, and he was delighted to show off his mad skills to Grandma Martha.

Joseph reads:

Joseph did all of his own menorah-lighting this year, and he is gradually learning the prayer. On this night, Grandpa Saul was humoring us by lighting one of the menorahs, although with so many people saying the prayer, Joseph got a little lost:

not Blivin Santa

Apparently Joseph caused a bit of a ruckus in his kindergarten class last week. He announced that he did not believe in Santa Claus and was basically booed down by the other kids. Joseph, as I have mentioned before, is a very independent guy, and does not easily bow down to peer pressure. But he has clearly been thinking it over.
Joseph sometimes draws what we call "kinetic" pictures: rather than drawing what happened at a point in time, he draws action as it occurs. The end result of these kinetic drawings may be hard to interpret (especially if night falls, and he colors black over the whole picture). I think that in this picture, the "not Blivin Santa" character with the sword seems to have slayed the "Blivin Santa" character. Or maybe the one transformed into the other?

Holiday hijinks

Our social calendar is booked this time of year! This weekend, before and after taking Danny to Chicago, we went to the Phi Sigma Biological Honor Society Holiday party and the ISU Children's Holiday Party. The Phi Sigma party is always great, but this year it was held in the Bloomingtion Center for the Performing Arts, which is a fantastic venue, so it was even better than usual. The event is potluck, and everyone around here is such a great cook that it was really a feast! There was free beer and wine with a professional cash bar for the other drinks.

There was even a band! The (unnamed) band was loud but good, and drove the old folks out. The kids had a great time: the room was so large and high-ceilinged that they were able to run around in one part of the room without bothering anyone in the dining/induction ceremony area. Santa came and gave some gifts, too.

Joseph's dance mix, including a little break dancing, some pole dancing and a one-man stage dive.


The supposed highlight of the ISU Children's holiday party is a performance by the Gamma Phi Circus, one of only two collegiate circuses in the US. The performances were a little uneven, with a little too much focus on athleticism and too little on showmanship? There were no major falls, just a lot (A LOT) of bobbles, drops and minor falls.

Sam thought that he was a little too mature for the circus. Luckily I wasn't, so I poked him until he enjoyed it in spite of himself.

Santa visits the circus! Also, Al Bowman, the president of ISU visited the circus. Now, if they had gotten Santa and Al Bowman to do the Russian swing, that would have been entertainment!

Joseph requested a snake from the balloon-bending man. Wow--you should have seen the guy sweating it out to make this finely honed piece of craftsmanship.

Our special little snowflake!

Back from Ohio

Ahh how relaxing. We went to Cleveland for Thanksgiving, where we had a lovely time enjoying the company of friends and family. We ate some fabulous meals, drank some lovely drinks, and generally relaxed and had a good time. I have been back in Normal for 16 hours and I think that my head may explode at any minute.

Here we are enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving diner. My mom does not (and probably should not) cook. In fact, 10 years ago she decided to move her oven to the basement to make more space in the kitchen. Consequently, cooking Thanksgiving dinner was a bit of a challenge. Michelle and Rich brought over the turkey, and I made sides as best I could.

Turkey shredding after the bash.

Michelle and Rich came over to hang out and give Danny a birthday present.


We took Danny out to Lolita in Tremont, which is one of Iron Chef Michael Symon's restaurants. Everyone looked very dashing. The food was amazing, especially the smoked meats. The kids snarfed down a big plate of goat cheese mac and cheese. Danny had a duck confit pizza and I ordered various sides, including chicken livers, and Dorinda had the MahiMahi.

Danny gave his seal of approval to the cappuccino (and the martinis!)


I haven't been back to Cleveland more than twice in 10 years, and it is striking how some things have changed and some things never change. The houses remain, but the people have all changed. I didn't randomly run into anyone that I knew, and in in fact I ran into few people may age that I could conceivably have known. It never occurred to me that people that I knew who remained in Cleveland have moved off into other (younger and hipper) neighborhoods.

I met up with my long-lost friend Jennie and her family. The kids had a great time playing with each other and Argos and we helped my mom eat up Thanksgiving leftovers.


The road trip back was a pain--we had two traffic delays (@30 minutes each). The kids were happy travellers because I introduced them to Mr. Bean.


We were all rather shocked to discover that it had snowed 6 inches while we were gone, and we came home to a winter wonderland (and a plowed-in driveway).