Christmas in Indy, Day 5: Opening Christmas Gifts, Visiting Crown Hill

Group photo! Another masterclass in how to balance a phone precariously, for 10 seconds.
Group photo! Another masterclass in how to balance a phone precariously, for 10 seconds.
Closer to midnight. We opted to stay in, instead of going out to midnight service at St. John’s. I miss the ritual and tradition of it (and the singing), but welcomed time with my family… just hanging out.
My parents had brought over some champagne a day or two ago, which may have been for mimosas. But we ended up opening the bottle tonight. My dad wanted a toast, and wanted a family photo… so with a slight bit of balancing on the fireplace mantle, he got his Christmas wish.
Another lazy day today, not much to show. Putzed around the house and mostly relaxed. I’m sure there was a lot of TV watching. Perhaps a nap or two.
We did have one big family activity, but it took place much later in the day. We had a late evening (7PM) escape room booked, at Escape Room USA.
It was cold out, but we all braved the temps to seek out mulled wine and raclettes.
Liz, looking out for hardware pieces that match what we have in our house. She’s been on the hunt for literally years now.
Fast forward to Indy, several hours later. It’s late at night, we’ve unloaded the car, and are hanging out in the kitchen with Stacey and Shane. As a late nightcap, Shane offers me up a little moonshine.
Shane got a hold of all the various 8MM films that my parents had stored/kept, and brought them up (at my request). I probably shouldn’t have started to look into this, given how late it was (after midnight).
Nearby, between the restaurant and our car, we passed by a Puttshack. We saw what looked to be an indoor minigolf course, and decided to try our luck.
Despite how late it was, and despite how tired we were, Liz and I figured on stopping in to see if they had any open slots. Luckily for us, they did.
Jahnu, showing off the custom socks he got (featuring a photo of Kaya on the socks).
Note to self: next year, take this photo and print them on a new pair of socks. Repeat for the next 30 years.
I have vague memories of playing as a kid. And the sound of Mahjong tiles clacking together is something I hear, when imagining my grandmother’s house on the South Side of Indy. But while I think I know the rules, I never learned them officially.
We were thinking about using an upcoming weekend day to just relax and make cookies. But looking at our remaining time and our progress in the hallway, we realized we had more work and less free time than we anticipated.
So tonight, we made cookies. Or rather – everyone else made cookies, and I watched them. Liz brought a few recipes and was working on Oatmeal cookies and Sugar cookies.
One prompt in particular stands out. It was: “Politely tell your kidnapper that you need to go to the bathroom.” I forget who gave this answer, but the phrase “juice break” came up. And for the rest of the night (and the rest of our visit), that became a kind of in-joke that we kept going.
After a quick huddle, Liz and I figured it would be best if we headed back to Chicago. As much as we wanted to stay, there were a few risks involved. While our contact with Jasmine was limited, we were somewhat close (I did get to give her a hug at one point).
So whether we got it or not remains a question. We could remain in Indy a bit longer, but staying potentially increased our chances of contracting Covid.
Another risk: if we developed symptoms or started to get sick, Stacey potentially would need to them take care of us and/or we’d be unable to make it back to Chicago until we recovered. And in terms of self-isolating, we’d all end up having to restart the clock based on the last person to exhibit symptoms.
My sister didn’t remember it at first, but she recognized this photo. She kept saying “Who is that?” but couldn’t quite place where she recognized him from.
As I played the video, she started to remember bits and pieces. And it was hilarious, watching her remember all the various characters from this film.
Bob got involved in the Facetime chat, asking Audrey some questions as she tried out the “lie detector machine” we got her as a gift. Apparently, it dings when you tell the truth but shocks you if you lie.