We drive out to Trinity Tree Farm in Issaquah to cut down a tree. We march around for a bit before selecting a nice Frazer Fir which, for some reason, Anya names, “Seneca”. We hang out for a bit afterwards to have hot chocolate at the farm’s ever-increasing concession stand, even meeting up there with the family of Liya’s friend, Zelia.
Bree enjoys the process of getting the bailed tree up on top of the car.
Anya loses a tooth. She ties a tambourine to her doorknob, and leaves a note on the door:
To Tooth Fairy:
I have a made a few booby-traps to catch you in the act. Consider yourself warned. Just to let you know.
—Anya Miksovsky
We take the girls to the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Nutcracker. We’ve been multiple times, but this show is notable for several reasons. It’s Bree’s first time seeing the Nutcracker. (She’s a bit scared at the beginning, but warms up to it, and does a great job sitting through the whole thing.) A girl in Liya’s class performs in the show (as one of the toy soldiers in the battle with the mice). And Angela’s alumni group arranges a backstage tour during intermission. It’s really cool to see the set pieces and the many layers of backdrops.
We get to meet some of the ballet dancers in the show. The two on the left perform in the Spanish Dance. The peacock girl on the right who does the solo in the Arabian Dance. The peacock girl makes a bit impression: when she finally appears on stage, Bree waves at her from our seats in the balcony.
Bree’s pre-K class concludes a Native American unit by holding a potlatch.
Angela takes the girls downtown for their annual picture with Santa. We think this is the first time all three girls are smiling in the photo and looking reasonable natural.
Jan’s sister Skye and her husband Jared drive up from Salem, OR, to spend Christmas in Seattle. They stay in Magnolia with Lyn.
Liya’s little stuffed Squishable raccoon, Timmy, has written a new story:
THE DRINK
One day, Timmy decided
to have some wine.
There were not any
Squishable laws so Timmy
could go to a bar. Pete
said that wine
did not taste good but
Timmy tried it anyway.
Timmy decided that Pete
was right and wine
did not taste good.
Jan’s brother Chris has a heck of a time flying up to Seattle from San Francisco. Some bad weather causes his flight to be canceled, and getting re-booked on standby is almost futile on an extremely busy day for holiday travel. He spends most of the day in the airport, and finally manages to catch a late evening flight. The Seattle side of things presents its own challenge: an enormous traffic jam between I-5 and the airport turns a quick airport pick-up into a small ordeal. We finally get Chris home around 11:30 pm, and while everyone’s tired, it’s so nice to have everyone together that we stay up for a late snack.
Christmas Eve Day. Skye and Jared are surprised none of us have seen, “Elf”, one of the several movies they watch every Christmas. Here Liya snuggles with her aunt and uncle while we all watch the movie. Despite the fact the movie is claimed to be good for all ages, Bree finds the movie scary.
So Jan takes Bree with him on a last- minute shopping outing to find an extra fondue pot for tonight’s dinner. Te two of them get to the neighborhood cookware store just as they’re closing up, but they let us in, and we snag the last pot they have. Everyone enjoys having the warm fondue dinner on a cold Christmas Eve.
After dinner, Jan stays at home to put their girls to bed while Angela takes everyone with her down to Mount Baker Park Presbyterian for their Christmas Eve service. (It’s her first Christmas Eve service, and even though she’s not preaching, she’s still a little nervous!)
Christmas morning begins when the girls get up very early and (without permission) open their stockings first. Before we all open presents, the girls carry out gift exchanges between Timmy the raccoon, Phoenix, and many of their other stuffed animals.
After the stuffed animals open their presents, it’s finally time for the people to open theirs.
One of Bree’s favorite gifts is this puzzle, called a Perplexus, in which you one tries to navigate a tiny steel ball through a three-dimensional maze. Bree finds the challenging and somewhat frustrating, but still enjoyable — as does Chris, who also received one.
Anya shares a gift with everyone: a covered box she calls, “The Christmas Draw”. Essentially a grab bag, each member of the family has ten seconds to try to select a piece of candy or a trinket and avoid selecting a rock.
It’s Skye’s birthday — she turns 30 today! We all take her and Jared out for a nice birthday lunch at Cafe Flora. Our gift to Skye is two nights at the Inn at Langley (previously arranged in consultation with Jared), so after lunch, they head out for Whidbey Island and what we hope will be a fun stay there.
Seattle to Southern California. We head down to Rancho Palos Verdes, just south of Los Angeles, to visit the home of Angela’s brother Johnny. We just barely make our flight at SeaTac, but otherwise the trip is smooth – it’s getting easier and easier to travel with the three girls. The girls and their two cousins Anthony and Brian are all excited to see other, and for the first hour mostly run around the house screaming at the top of their lungs.
Jan and Angela have a nice relaxing morning at a spa called Terranea by the ocean near Johnny and Jenny’s house, then the girls and everyone (including Angela’s parents) join us there for brunch. Afterwards we walk down a trail below the bluffs. Brian is excited to show his cousins a sea cave, which we eventually reach, but the tide is in so we can only peek inside.
It’s a kind of drizzly day, so Johnny takes us to Sky Zone, an indoor trampoline place. Bree’s initially too scared to try it, until we realize she’s just watching the foam pit where kids leap into the air before landing in neck-deep foam. When we show her the rest of the place, with kids of all ages bouncing on trampolines everywhere, she’s game to try it, and within a few seconds of actually getting on the trampolines, she’s delighted. All five kids are red-faced and out of breath after 20 minutes or so, so they take a break before heading back to bounce up and down. Just before we leave, the kids (even Bree) have a go at the foam pit. Liya makes some fairly spectacular leaps.
A sunny, warm day in the 60s in Southern California — hence we should go ice skating. Johnny takes us all to the Queen Mary pier in Long Beach, where an event called “Chill” shows off some indoor ice sculptures. Despite bundling up ahead of time, and taking advantage of their loaner parkas, all the kids instantly get really cold. The ice skating rink outside, however, is perfect. Liya and Anya do fairly well out on the ice, especially Liya, who’s had the benefit of some ice skating classes a couple winters back. Bree is a bit shaky but has a great time regardless, and Anthony and Brian do well for their first time ever on ice.
We’re having so much fun on the ice that we don’t notice its lunchtime until everyone’s already hungry. We drive out, and pull into the very first pizza restaurant we come to. The pizza arrives in time to avert five meltdowns.
We drive down to San Diego to spend a few days doing kid-friendly touristy things. The weather is perfect, the traffic is light, and all the kids hold it together for the drive down. We check in to the Pacific Terrace Hotel, which is right on the beach. Everyone enjoys a dip in the pool, and then we have a pretty nice New Year’s Eve dinner. Angela lets the kids stay up until 9:00 pm so they can watch the ball drop in Times Square, but when 9:00 rolls around and there’s no sign of the ball dropping soon, we realize they’ve shifted the broadcast to coincide with midnight on the West Coast. Ah, well.
Happy New Year to everyone!