Thursday, January 06, 2011

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Solstice, Christmas, New Years

We had a great holiday season this year. Fantastic time tubing with the boys up at Snoqualmie Pass, fairly easy travels to Phoenix for Xmas on the Solstice, lots of time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and old friends. The weather in Phoenix was superb--lots of 70+ degree weather with full sun. Amy and I got in a couple of runs in the desert, Bro and I went for a long mountain bike ride, and we had a fantastic hike to some ancient petroglyphs in the Superstition Mountains.

Santa was good to the boys, but our gifts to the boys posed somewhat of a challenge. Liam had told us for months prior that the only thing he wanted for Christmas was a chameleon (he's been interested in them for about two years). We did loads of research, checked out books from the library, visited pet stores, etc., and explained that chameleons are hard to keep healthy and require a lot of attention and upkeep. He said he'd be OK with that, so we required that he care for all 7 of our chickens for a month and we would consider it.

Well, he took great care of the chickens, including mucking out the henhouse and nest box, so we got him a Jackson's chameleon. He was, to put it mildly, ecstatic.

Lochlan continues to be fascinated by Batman and superheroes in general, Santa gave him a Batman costume, Batarang, and grappling hook. He had also asked Santa for a Leatherman *without* a knife (I suspect because when he initially asked for one we explained that a four-year-old should not have a knife, therefore he should not have a Leatherman), and then told us later "Santa can make anything!" Mercifully, after some searching, we found a Leatherman without a knife. He sleeps with it under his pillow.

We returned to Seattle after 11 hours on airplanes and in airports (snow delays everywhere) and hosted a super enjoyable 'Brazilian New Years' party. Our kids cannot stay awake until midnight local time, so for years we've celebrated at 7:00 pm with the folks in Rio. Amy put Lochlan to bed and did not get out of bed...until Sunday afternoon, still sick as a dog.

As it turns out, both boys have strep throat and Impetigo, so I have been covering all domestic duties, nursing three sick family members, and trying to work. NOT FUN!! But I am thankful that I am still (knock wood) healthy and at least have the ability to care for my family. It would truly suck if I was sick too!

On balance, it was a great holiday, and once everyone is healthy again, it will be a great January. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!