The holidays are busy for everyone, and no different for us. This year though, with us being back in a reasonable distance from the families, the holiday schedule was stretched across much of November and December. Here’s a little bit of what we’ve been up to…
Right about the time of our fall recap post, we had our first true date night since Lily’s birth. For Father’s Day, Susan got me tickets to see
Alton Brown Live in Louisville and set up babysitting with my parents. Alton is one of my food heroes and I didn’t even know he had a live show so this was very exciting…and the show was great.
Thanksgiving weekend was packed with activities in Delphos. First we had a small family (if any meal with 8 kids involved can be considered small) Thanksgiving feast at Susan’s parents’ house on Thursday.
Friday morning, Susan and her mom and sisters squeezed in Cookie Day, which finished Saturday morning.
Susan’s dad’s side of the family had their holiday party (Christmas and Thanksgiving combo). With such a large family, it’s impressive to find any time to get most of them together in one place. Lily also had her first Santa experience here and was not fazed by the man in red.
To cap off the Thanksgiving weekend, Sunday brought Lily’s baptism which she slept through completely. No reaction at all to the anointing and water.
At the start of December, we got snowed on…about 5 inches that was maintained by follow-up dustings and cold temperatures for about a week. However, I took the time to play in the snow by running a
Topo Trail Series race at East Fork State Park, the morning after the big snow.
To celebrate the season while in town in Cincy, we made a trip to the
Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, an awesome experience any time of year with the old train terminal converted into a museum hub. Given the season, though, they had a holiday trains exhibit that was a big hit and packed with families. My favorite attraction is the
miniature of downtown Cincinnati from the early 1900’s right at the entrance of the Cincinnati Museum.
Finally Christmas arrived and we first made our way to Delphos for the weekend. Most of the time here was spent relaxing with her family around her parents’ house, but there was one Christmas party for Susan’s mom’s side of the family Saturday night. It included a (more convincing) Santa visit, which Lily seemed to enjoy…particularly snuggling into Santa’s beard.
After a one day work layover in Cincinnati on Monday, it was down to Louisville for the Kissel and Murphy celebrations. This was a busy few days with family visits, friend visits, last minute shopping, and parties scattered throughout.
Back from the whirlwind of the holidays, we are taking it easy and staying in Cincinnati for New Year’s (
what a difference a year makes)...looking forward to 2014.
Happy Holidays!
