Backing up all the way to the 19th, here's the Price kids all grown up at our baby sister's 50th birthday party:
From left to right--Lisa, Nancy, Carol, Gail, Maureen and Pat--you guess which direction we are in age.
A few days before Christmas I convinced everyone that a trip to Gatorland could be fun, and indeed it was! One of the highlights was feeding the budgies in the aviary. I think there must have been at least sixty pretty little parakeets who swarmed down from their perches to peck at the sticks covered with seed. At any given moment, they could be on your head, back, arms or hands. Bruce was worried they'd poop on us, however that wasn't the case, except for one tiny bit on Jonathan. Seriously, it was delightful fun!
Christmas day was the first time all four of our sons have been home for several years.Opening gifts in two shifts, we watched the super sweet movie, Up. We always gather at Lisa's house for dinner, and extended family time. Lisa's table is always beautiful:
Danny makes incredible ham, and mouth watering prime rib for dinner, much to the delight of the carnivores in the group. The Spaks outdid themselves this year, with two big gatherings in a week!The market was dismal on Sunday, the less time spent time on that, the better. Although I'd been bragging to Matt how big the market had become but his experience on Sunday did not validate my claims. Lots of vendors skipped out for one reason or another, and in hindsight, I wish I had. Damp chilly weather and nearly no sales. Last year it was just the opposite, but if there's anything we've learned in over two years, it is that "you never know!"
Giving Matt a chance to run, Jonathan, Alissa, and I went over to Cypress Grove Park nearby. He ran, we strolled. Naturally, Mr. Baxter had to come along:
Bowling at Colonial Lanes was on the next day's agenda. What a pleasant surprise it was to discover it was both clean, and cheap. Jonathan won the first game with Alissa taking game two. I am a terrible bowler, but I liked it nonetheless. Check out this form!
Jonathan and Alissa returned to Chicago on Tuesday. I'm so proud of Jonathan for cleaning out the closet! Every visit during the last few years, I've implored him to decide what to do with his vast collection of empty DVD, and Video game cases, not to mention several years worth of magazines, which were filling up a closet I wanted to claim as my own. It was bittersweet for him, reliving his past; he managed to pare it down to just one big tub. Yeah for him, and yeah for me! Now if only I could get Bill and Dave to do the same.....
Matt's oldest friends came by for a chat, undoubtedly longer than they planned, but once I get talking it's hard to stop me! I've known these girls since they were around 10, so there was lots of catching up to do. Liza, on the left is due to deliver her first baby in about two weeks, whereas Ann has three children. She described their experience leaving Toronto December 26 to fly home. Not pretty. With three children under 5, they sat on the plane for hours and hours while all 300 passenger's luggage was searched! Can you imagine?
Matt was originally meant to leave before J & A, but for reasons only known to God, it was not what happened. A water main break in the server room at the British Consulate held his passport hostage for much longer than he would have liked. Fortunately, he was able to reschedule his flight for Thursday without penalty. Thus, we went to the bowl parade on Wednesday. Lots of high school bands from mostly Northern States, although our favorite was from Mexico, of all places. And, of course, there were the floats covered in Citrus:
After a nice lunch at Tijuana Flats, we made our way to Mecca to spend my gift card from Bill at Best Buy. Bruce arrived home from his trip to New York (freezing); we made a second pilgrimage, eating a yummmy dinner at PF Changs.
One of the places I've been to a lot in December is the airport. Yesterday morning was our last trip there in 2009; Matt has left us empty nesters once again.
Thankfully, there are no pictures of me dancing solo onstage at the drag queen cabaret show we went to with Dana last night. Hmmmm...it was a birthday thing.
Listening to: Jack Peñate - Everything Is New
via FoxyTunes
1 comment:
The drag queen thing sounds the MOST fun!!!! L
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