Liz and I got the idea to get Bob a cake as a Christmas gift. And since we were in Indy, we decided a stop at Heidelberg Hause – the place where my family got nearly every single birthday cake for me and my sister, as we were growing up.
We couldn’t really come up with a good gift idea for my parents this year. With my dad getting some surgery on his eyes recently, his vision has drastically improved. So the idea of doing a VR thing came up – and we decided to turn it into a big, group outing.
I love the symmetry of this gift. A long while ago, the husband created this slide for his wife. And many years later, my wife created a print of that slide for me. I’d like to think that we are furthering a tradition here, and will continue to fill that little house with love.
Candle service, close to midnight. The lights go dim, and everyone sings “Silent Night.” There’s a part of me that wishes I could record this moment each year, as it’s quite lovely. The whole room darkens, and the candles flicker their light against the walls… and everyone sings softly, as we near the midnight hour.
Going out for a big meal like this is not something we normally do. But then again, an 80th birthday isn’t something that happens all that often, either.
Somehow, between the presents and breakfast, Jahnu lost a tooth!
Attending this service is something all the relatives in town would do, accompanying my Grandma Phoebe. Since she passed, it wasn’t clear if we would be going again.
My dad decided he wanted to attend, and so the two of us decided to go by ourselves.
There were some ok exhibits, and some less than stellar exhibits. To be honest, I enjoyed things most when we were all making fun of the lights.
Liz and I spent a slow day getting ready for a weekend away. After packing, we hit the road in the late afternoon – but not before stopping at Vanille, to pick up a few treats.
Jahnu opening up a pretty sweet Nerf bow/arrow set. You may also notice that he’s changed into another gift (a Griffindor Quiddich outfit, from Harry Potter).
A delicious meal of dumplings, pot stickers, and fried rice. If I was asked to manifest my childhood as a single meal, this would be it.
Liz and I arrived on Friday to spend the Christmas weekend with my family in Indianapolis. Though I originally purchased Beasts of Balance for myself… I decided that it would be better as a gift to my niece and nephew.
I found it kind of nice to remember some of these older tunes, but she clearly didn’t have the same reaction. The interesting thing with the Suzuki Method is that it really emphasizes memorization – so much so that even now, many decades later, I still can remember most of these songs. Even though I may not have actually touched a violin in years.
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.