Wrapping up Another Visit

When we keep busy, enjoying the days and flitting from one activity to another--the days seem to skip by pretty quickly. Lemur arms get ripped off in puppy tug-o-wars, and the pup must wait patiently for repairs (I've since sewn on Hot Dog Water's OTHER arm from the NYE tug with Scarlet :)

Before Grandma J left for home, Caelan stopped by on her way to another job interview (spoiler alert: she got the job!) She also got to show her grandma the wedding video that turned out so beautifully, and she opened her birthday gift early--along with some New Zealand souvenirs (I got a super cute hat, which is probably going to be in most of the pictures I post going forward :)

As the clock moved closer to go time, I snagged Brennen out of bed and put Graysen in charge of Scarlet (after he loaded Grandma J's suitcases into the van). We got a mini version of our farewell photo on the stairs, plus double dogs :) I thought it was fun that Graysen standing one stair down made him the right hugging height for his grandma :)

It really felt like such a whirlwind first two weeks of December, I mean clearly it was! But a bit more was on my calendar. After I returned from the airport, I started working on seven dozen batches of fudge for a cookie exchange the next morning. I ran out of ingredients--twice--but kept going when Buck brought me more. It was late, the fudge wasn't setting up correctly (because I kept forgetting things, like the vanilla or would double a batch and then the heat-up timing would change). Anyway, long story short, the next morning at 8:30 a.m. I sat in the kitchen and cried in defeat--there would be no cookie party with my friends. My NGF texted me to come anyway, but I was an exhausted, emotional mess. Having seven batches of fudge--which did eventually set up beautifully--has been a constant snack companion ever since (and yes, New Year back on track starts tomorrow or I will have to buy New Year clothing online to leave the house :)

Speaking of new clothing, Buck got Olive a hoodie, lol! She loves it so much that she carried it around for two days howling with happiness :)

Believe it or not . . . I still have sooo many more posts after this! I thought the rest of the weeks would be quiet, but it seems just about every few days something else exciting or interesting kept happening :) 

And the Birthday Celebrations Keep Coming!

I think I've been a bit spoiled with birthday events this year :) There was the concert last month, breakfast at the cabin, a lovely catch-up phone call with my birthday-month Cali-girl buddy whose family is currently stationed in Guam, and now dinner at my new favorite restaurant plus an escape room! Even better, Gabby got to go! We originally picked this date and time because everyone could be there--but then her schedule got wonky. Chase still planned to join us, and did for dinner, too (he even tried a sausage stuffed mushroom!--he still doesn't like mushrooms, and that's okay :) Back to Gabby--she mentioned to her boss that there was a family event that evening and that Buck offered a behind-the-scenes tour of his business if she could go . . . which got the attention of the man who runs Gabby's business (because he's a huge fan of Buck's business), lol. Whether that tour happens or not, I was so, so happy that Gabby joined us at the escape room--we couldn't have solved it without her!

But I got way ahead of myself in my excitement about Gabby :) Before we left, Grandma J mixed up some chocolate caramel brownies for my birthday dessert--yummy! Chase arrived, hopped in the van, and away we went to meet Noah and Caelan. 

Our meal was delicious, and Grandma J's treat! We enjoyed the atmosphere and unique flavors, and finished up just in time to get to our next destination on time--and of course, to meet Gabby :)

This puzzle was NOT linear, which was great because we all had something to work on that matched our skill set. The puzzle master thought we were on track to beat the record, because we found so many of the clues so quickly! But, part of the fun is the experience, so I'm glad we didn't hustle through too fast :) I think one of the most unique clues involved pouring a teapot of water into a tube next to the grandfather clock. We really debated if that was allowed, and finally just went for it :) It was the right move and the next clue floated to the top! Also, the China on the platter was the same pattern my mom used to have when we were growing up. So funny how some of those things stick in the old memory bank :)

So, the drawback to this type of escape room was that we didn't coordinate the answers to all the clues that each individual or duo worked out. This means, we decided to ask the puzzle master guy for clues that we probably would have easily discovered we already had, had we all talked through our own solved part of the mystery. In the end, we found all the clues, connected the dots, and escaped before the parlor exploded! (We've had a lot of dynamite experiences at these rooms lately ;)

On the way home, we drove through Chik-Fil-A for their Christmas peppermint shakes, a happy ending to a super fun evening! Happy Birthday to me . . . again! :)

Delightful Zoolightful

To kick off the festivities of our next busy week, Caelan and Noah invited us to their apartment for dinner. They prepared three soups--a cinnamon-flavored chili, a zesty lemon orzo, and a cheesy broccoli. Along with these, Caelan made cornbread and bread machine white bread, and Noah made a fun neon-green fizzy apple mocktail. It was another very tasty evening event!

They'd recently swapped Daisy out for Scarlet--who is as tall as, if not taller than, Olive now! She was allegedly over her "glee pee" puppy joys, but seeing our family again after her stint in jail was just too much for the doodle . . . and somehow she managed to glee pee on Buck's jeans (she's very talented :)

With full and happy tummies, we headed to the zoo. It was a very busy night, and we were happy that Chase and Gabby could join us for a wander!

I love Christmas lights, so I could have walked through the loop of them over and over, all night long! It was chilly, but not freezing, and it was sooooo pretty!! No free candy (Buck asked several times) but we got to tour the gingerbread village and wish my niece a happy golden birthday by the giant golden tree!

My favorite of the 12 days of Christmas--clearly . . . :)

We went inside the gift shop/theater building to warm up and use the restrooms . . . and guess who was there--Olaf!! He's HUGE! He really wanted us to come watch his movie, but we needed to take some pictures and selfies by the trees. Especially G$. He really embraced the opportunity to make lasting photographic memories with his family ;)

Wishing you warm snuggles in the midst of pretty lights!

White Christmas Visit

We were at church discussing our plans for the day with my sister-in-law. When she found out we were heading to see the White Christmas exhibit at a museum she's never before toured (what?!), she quickly decided to pack up the kiddos and join us. Yay!

It turned out that the family who lined up behind us to see the big tree was our former pastor at the big church! He, of course, also knew K, so we all chatted and then they took a bunch of pictures of us, and we took a bunch of pictures of them :)

Such a fun big tree! The museum gets dozens of offers each year. They consider the potential donations carefully, and then select the "winner." That family is featured as the tree givers while the railroad company arranges to have the tree professionally removed and transported to the museum. Back in the day, the railroad would haul in a giant tree from the west coast on a train. Pretty cool tradition! It's fun to watch the process every year on the internet--last year the video of the tree exploding through the museum doors made late night television talk shows!

BeReal went off while we were in the exhibit. I think Buck's is the most impressive for head placement :) The uniform on the left is the one Bing Crosby actually wore! Several of the display pieces are recreations, as fabrics were often reused for other costuming for other films. Buck said the soldier uniform was in several movies before they snagged it back and rebuilt it to the original :) I didn't read a lot of the signage, because I was hanging out with Mr. M. He's seen the movie a couple of times already this year (he's got me beat; I still haven't watched it this season! Update: I have now!), so he recognized a lot of the costumes and sets--super fun! He'd never done a BeReal before though, so I got to amaze him with a picture of himself with all the big kids at the same time :)

It's been a minute since I last saw this guy pushing around a baby stroller 💖

After peeking in at the elaborate Santa set up for this year's little visitors, Mr. M and I decided to tour the train! Being the size he is (which apparently was the size of a full-grown adult, back in the day), the train compartments and accoutrements seemed spacious and comfortable to him. He thought he might like to spend a week or more riding on the trains! Auntie J was not so sure about this (as I squeezed through the aisles and peeked into the coat closet-sized accommodations. Nahhhhhh. Maybe an upgraded, updated, expanded version? Although I did recently watch the most recent Mission Impossible movie and extended train travel looks less enticing as a result, lol :) A short trip would be fun, though!

Overall--I would have liked there to be more White Christmas movie stuff and more original items (if they even exist anymore). The other traveling exhibit was okay, but really looking at coins and exploring around with Mr. M and the Crew was the best part of the day. And wow, that tree!!