Merry Christmas

 I think this picture probably exists for each grandchild by now.

Edie wore this fabulous hat for about two seconds.

John knows the most dangerous place to try out this toy.

The explorers gear up.

We also went to the park to get some fresh air after absorbing all that new stuff! It had the coolest playground equipment.

John loved these and told me who each one belonged to. He had a long story about them.

We counted the rings on this tree. I think it was about 140 years old!

We're on break!

Part 2. Getting serious about our relaxing. Christmas Eve day saw almost the whole family in the house, with a well-deserved outing to the playground to smash a coconut and play "Mr. MacGregor". The children self-assorted as planned!

Oh Maryland, my Maryland

Part 1.
We drove to Maryland on the shortest day of the year. You might think that a nine-hour drive with three small children would make it feel like the longest day of the year, but this time you would be wrong! It was such a treat to drive instead of fly. We felt very free, stopping whenever we wanted and singing as loud as we wanted. I re-acquired all the digital versions of the tapes I listened to in the car growing up (thanks Johnnie!) and so we got to listen to some real classics. And they have held up well! John and Oscar were enthralled by Odds Bodkin and greatly entertained by Bill Bradley. And of course Joe Scruggs, singer of silliest songs.

And then, we got there! Ahhhh. The next day Charlie and Henry and Penny hung out for a bit, and Oscar and John and Edie agree that cousins are the best! Henry read to everyone, Penny petted Edie, and everyone watched shows.

Happy New Year!

We went for a new walk to celebrate, naturally. This one is very nicely paved, so even though it has been raining a lot Edie got to get down and do some walking too. No puddles. No mud. However, it is in Easley.

There is also a crazy park (crazy because of the playground equipment, part of the new wave in playgrounds these days - you'll see soon) with bathrooms IN A BOXCAR! John was ecstatic.

John was very excited to say Happy New Year! to everybody. He got discouraged when some of the bikers didn't hear him or respond. Eventually he got cranky enough that he started saying HAPPY NEW YEAR when people had almost passed us by, which scared them. I explained that this was scary and not ok, and he overcorrected to say happy new year and no one responded, again. But by then the walk was almost over. It's hard, figuring out these social norms.

There are mile markers on the path, every tenth of a mile. This was just far enough for Oscar to run ahead and still be in sight. We walked 3 miles! We walked for an hour before deciding to turn around - the walk back took only thirty minutes. I think we moved faster because I was doling out individual popcorns to Edie - John - Oscar - this kept them focused on staying next to me. Pretty good trick!

John's green shorts were dirty. Luckily he agreed that his green bathing suit would be a good overshorts substitute.