Christmas in Texas

As soon as school was over on December 19, we got ready to leave for Texas.  That day, Julie drove down from San Francisco and at 5am the following morning, we headed for Santa Fe. We spent the following day with Michael and Laura before leaving again, this time for Austin.  All together we drove about 24 hours over two days.

 

Michael, Julie, and Dev hiking at Tent Rocks

Arthur delighted to play at a roadside Dairy Queen

We got into Austin around 9pm on December 22, and the next morning Rosemary, Louis, Beatrice, and Arthur were off to a Christmas day camp while the rest of us took a break to get lunch at Odd Duck.

Rosemary and Beatrice playing with more fake snow at camp

That evening we celebrated Baby William's first birthday with cake and a family talent show.  Mina organized the talent, including Rosemary and James on the piano, Mina on guitar, and a special song (with props!) from Mamo and Suzan. (And Arthur and Louis accompanied them on the bells.)

The following day was Christmas Eve and all 15 of us were invited to a gorgeous New Orleans-themed party at the home of Eileen and Jordan Silvergleid, friends of Mina and James.  We all had gumbo (expertly made by James), red beans and rice, pralines, and hurricanes.  Arthur and Louis spent the whole evening playing in the backyard while Beatrice spent two hours carefully decorating a parasol for the parade (sadly, she skipped the parade itself because she was scared to walk in the street - but Arthur represented our family playing the washboard and James, the French horn).

 

 

 Then the next day it was Christmas!
 

The kids spent the morning opening gifts - though after opening her stocking, Beatrice took a long break to create some Christmas decorations.

 

Dev reads a note Santa left for Beatrice along with her magic wand:

 

Next year B plans on asking Santa for a book of spells to help her use her wand.

B with her wand

Rosemary on her new stilts

Arthur in his knight costume

 

The kids table for Christmas dinner

The following day Mina and I took the kids to hike around Barton Creek while Dev and James went shooting.

Then we headed off to Dallas, where B and Arthur helped finish Suzan and Naresh's tree and we toured the incredible new children's section at the Arboretum.

 

After a week in Texas, we were on the road again! this time to Colorado...

 

 

Christmas in California

The Christmas season flew by this year.  Between a late Thanksgiving and an early departure for Texas, there just didn't seem to be enough time to do all the things we wanted to.  Some traditions, like the Hollywood Christmas Parade and the LA Philharmonic Christmas carol sing-along, will have to wait until next year.  Despite that, though, we still had plenty to do in December.

As soon as Thanksgiving was over, the kids helped me decorate the house.

 

Arthur's favorite thing to do this month was visit the Christmas decoration aisles at Lowe's.

 

 

Arthur shopping for Miss Ashley at Jo-Ann's

We went to the neighborhood Christmas party for Magnolia Park as well as the Mayor's Tree Lighting Ceremony in downtown Burbank.

 

 

Inspired by our friend Zoe who was disappointed she missed this year's Halloween party, we threw a little party for Space Christmas - another chance to use the black lights, glow sticks, and other party leftovers.

 

  

Jo and Aaron in silver and gold holiday bodysuits

 

Space Christmas costume

Red and green DMX lights

I baked over 300 cookies for our friends, neighbors, librarians, coaches, babysitters, gardeners, dog sitters, and so on, and I made fudge for the baristas at our local Starbucks.

 

 

Bret Harte has a tradition where parents donate small items to the "Holiday Beetique."  Then kids can come and shop for their family members.  I made these little Christmas candles.  The beetique is supposed to be a surprise, but I happened to be volunteering in the classroom the day the kindergartners went so I watched B shop for me, Dev, her brothers, and her grandparents.  I was so impressed - most kids either bought things for themselves, or just picked up things more or less at random, but Beatrice really spent time thinking about what each member of her family would like and why.  She got me a pack of glitter pens (because I'm a writer) and some sparkly lip gloss (because I like to dress up and go out in the evening).

The kids made various crafts, including these stamped clay ornaments:

 

We had people over almost every evening to enjoy the fireplace while the weather was unusually cold in LA (it even snowed in the Inland Empire).

Dev and I went to the Applied Minds holiday party, the kids both had parties at school - and then before we knew it, it was time to pack for Texas . . . 

Death mask, decorated for Christmas