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.
There is something quintessentially American about being Chinese-American, and ordering out for Chinese food on Christmas eve. Back when my parents used to have a restaurant, this happened all the time. But it still feels like the thing to do, especially around the holidays.
On arriving, we met the newest addition to my sister’s family: Layla. She tended to bark a lot when first meeting us, but warmed up soon after. She was super sweet and got a lot of attention from me and Liz during our stay.
On Friday evening, Liz and I arrived (a little late) and joined my family at my parents’ house. Several family members came back to celebrate my grandma’s 104th (that’s right, 104) birthday.
The calm before the storm…
Jasmine and Jahnu, focused on their electronic devices. What is with kids these days, and how they seem to be so obsessed with technology and gadgets? Incidentally, that would be my Amazon Echo in the middle of the table.
This is quite possibly my favorite image from the holidays.
Later in the evening, my parents came over and stopped off at (where else) a nearby Chinese restaurant for some take-out. The dining room table was covered with a lot of stuff, so we set up shop at the kids’ table. Is there anything more quintessentially American than Chinese food at Christmastime?
While some of the girls went shopping, I hung out at the house with Courtney’s boyfriend Andrew and Jahnu. We ended up watching Jahnu playing with a (totally sweet) toy gun, and gave him some target practice assignments. Andrew is in the background providing commentary, using a tiny toy megaphone that distorts voices into robotic voices.
While we celebrated my grandma Pheobe’s 101st birthday last night, yesterday’s event was kind of a family-only thing. We had another get-together (at a different restaurant), where it was a mix of family and a smaller group of family friends.
We held our event at a place called Formosa Seafood Buffet. The interesting thing was that it was kind of half seafood and half Chinese food. Kind of a strange mixture, but I think it worked out well for our group.
Despite leaving Chicago a little earlier to make the 7:30 PM dinner time… I made a miscalculation. I factored in the time change the day before, but totally forgot about it while we were on the road. So about halway to our destination, I realized we would end up arriving about an hour late.
Luckily for us, things didn’t start right on time. So with a bit of a delay at the restaurant (and a pretty zippy final hour, heading down to Indy)… we showed up a little bit after everyone sat down to eat.
Not too shabby a job on the makeup, tough. Particularly with the eyeshadow and rouge? I think my foundation could use some more work, but overall my makeup looks pretty tastefully applied. It seems… subdued. I don’t feel like I look like a whore is what I’m saying.
After our big outing to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, all of us went over to my Auntie Vickie’s house to visit Grandma Phoebe for a little while.