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.
Posts Tagged "jasmine"
Christmas in Indy, Day 4: Running Along the Monon Trail, Playing Wavelength, Learning How to Cheat, Christmas Eve Toast
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.
Christmas in Indy, Day 3: Art Gallery Heist at Escape Room USA
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.
Christmas in Indy, Day 2: Morning Run, Carmel Christkindlmarkt, Binging Ted Lasso
It was cold out, but we all braved the temps to seek out mulled wine and raclettes.
Travel Day to Indy
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).
Dim Sum with the Hutte Family, Sending Jasmine to Loyola
The Hutte family was in town for a big event: sending Jasmine off to college.
It’s incredible to me, mind boggling really… that Jasmine is now going to be off on her own. To me, it wasn’t that long ago that we were hanging out for the first time. It feels like she had just met Harmony the cat a bit ago. And that she just recently figured out how to eat a birthday cake.
Jasmine’s Graduation Party
As a testament to the ongoing march of time, I’m amazed… and awestruck to find that my niece, Jasmine, is graduating high school. And is due to head to college next year. Today, Liz and I headed to Indy to join in celebrating this big milestone for her… and for the next big milestones to come.
Jasmine Visits (and Considers) Chicago
My brain has great difficulty understanding that my niece, Jasmine, is looking at colleges. But more than that… that she’s considering which college to attend, and that Loyola is on the list.
Christmas in Indy, Day 4: Christmas Day
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.
Christmas in Indy, Day 2: Cold and Snow, Painting and Cookies
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.
Christmas in Indy, Day 1: Painting Prep and Ransom Note
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.
Celebrating My Mom’s Birthday: St. Elmo’s
I wasn’t quite expecting the maze-like interior, but we got taken downstairs and to some far back room. Because there were eight of us, we got seated in a room off the main area… and though some other folks sat at the nearby tables, it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
We Stay Connected Through Our Terrible Drawings
The game works like this: everyone is giving a prompt to draw. It’s usually something really weird and unusualy like: drone dropping drum sticks or caveman sauna. It’s pretty much guaranteed that the drawing, no matter how skilled the person may be, is going to be just terrible.
Christmas Day: Indianapolis and Valparaiso
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.
Hanging with the Family in Indy
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.