It’s tough to only see family via video, and doubly so since it’s been harder to see the Fords. But video has gotten better over the years, and while it pales to being in the same room… it’s still something that can connect us, despite our distances.
The ladies, checking out some family photos on Tricia’s laptop. For some reason, my iPhone added this extra blur/gauze to things and this looks like a ridiculous stock photo.
After arriving, we got a tour of the new place. And ended up in the basement, watching a bit of TV. We ended up sitting at the basement bar, watching the second half of “It’s a Wonderful Life” – which was a nice thing to do, as we were visiting for our “Early Christmas” celebration.
We are on a bit of a road trip, visiting family in both Valparaiso and Indianapolis. Last night, we stopped to stay the night in Valpo and visited with Tricia (who is in town with Sebastian, Audrey, and Paige).
In back, that would be Sebastian putting on his Darth Vader helmet. I wish I had some video/audio to share, because in addition to changing his voice… it also spits out Vader quotes. Which, coming from his short frame, was actually just hilarious.
A large part of our early visit to Atlanta (in addition to the fact that we can’t make it there this December), is that we were in town to celebrate Kirt’s 60th birthday party. Anne had set up a surprise party, and Kirt was none the wiser.
After church, we went out for a late brunch. Kirt and the girls ended up playing a really silly game (where they pinched his mouth, and forced him to talk and make farting sounds). They were in absolute stitches for a really long time, and it was hysterical to watch both him and their reactions.
An early Xmas in Atlanta, with the Ford kids in the midst of opening up their gifts.
A dangerous combination: children and sprinkles. The containers for sprinkles have extremely wide spouts, and really are designed for adults. When a kid gets a hold of one of these things and pours, the sprinkles just come out like they’re pouring water.
One great gift that the Fords got was a Karaoke set. Shortly after it was plugged in, all the kids began taking turns singing songs. As you can probably imagine, it was both awesome and incessant for the remainder of the day:
For a part of the morning afterwards, Tricia and I drove a bit around Decatur and she showed me around. Before heading home, we stopped over at a place called Revolution Doughnuts.
One of the things we did a lot of, while in Atlanta, was spend time in the pool. Oftentimes in the past, we’ve visited mostly during Christmastime (and not really swimming weather).
With the sun out and the weather as nice as it was… any chance we had to go in the pool, I was there.
On Sunday, Liz and I trekked down to Frankfort to hang out with Tricia and the kids (who are in town for a week, visiting from Georgia).
Shortly after we arrived, the girls got changed into their bathing suits and a mini-pool was filled up in the backyard. Despite the warm weather, the water from the hose was pretty icy cold. Despite several pitchers of hot water from the kitchen, it was still a pretty icy in there.
A little later in the evening, Katie got on Skype with Tricia and her family. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone on the laptop, talking with everyone down in Atlanta.
As is our annual tradition, we had an early Christmas with the Holder family at their home in Atlanta, GA. Recently, the Fords moved down to Atlanta as well, and are currently staying with the Holders. Needless to say, we had a very full house – which, over the holidays… is the best kind of house.