Iowa Christmas

It was a hectic December in DC, what with trips to Japan, musicals, teas, beer, and concerts. So we were really excited for a quiet Christmas in Iowa (though the weather made it seem more like early October).

The balmy weather did make for easy travel and meant that in addition to all the Zimmermans, we got to spend some time with the Fawcetts (in typical Fawcett fashion this time was spent at the pond, cutting wood, eating and performing a modern take on Dicken's, A Christmas Carol) and with Uncle Bernie, who joined us for Christmas dinner and all the fixin's).

But mostly, Christmas was about hanging out with cousins and siblings while talking, playing games and recording the odd short film. Owen & Nora had been waiting over a year to film the sequel to Youtube's Dad and despite a few creative differences, they were ultimately able to achieve their vision while leaving an opening to make it a trilogy. Santa seemed to have a bit of a theme in terms of presents this year, and so there were competing contests of Codenames, Smartish, and the fan favorite, Chickapig (which Nora is weirdly good at).

Everyone gathered at Mom & Dad's just before Christmas Eve and Steve & Becky and Dave & Kara headed back just after Christmas Day. We stayed a day longer -- enough time so that Nora was able to get some quality time in with Grace's guinea pigs, but not long enough that she could convince me to get one. And then we headed back to DC for "fake Christmas" and a very real stomach flu.

(To see all our Iowa Christmas pics, click here.)

U2's Dad 2: Electric Bugaloo

Last year at Thanksgiving, Owen, Nora, Maura, Sam, Erin and Uncle Dave all collaborated on a series of movies: Island Adventure, Sponsored by LaCroix, and U2's Dad. This year at Christmas they upped their game, not only creating a sequel to U2's Dad, but also a pretty exciting trailer for the movie, as well as a promotional tour where they all read and reacted to mean tweets about themselves...enjoy :-)

Repertory Orchestra

This year Owen moved up to the Repertory Orchestra playing with winds brass and percussion for the first time. They took on more challenging music, and played a wonderful winter concert with selections from Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Brahms.

Young Artists Orchestra

A very special episode of Viola Radio Network!

Brewlights 2019

We weren't going to do Brewlights this year. Having purchased numerous tickets since the successful inaugural outing in 2017 that went unused or were given away, I hit delete when I initially got the email for this year's winter celebration of beer, Christmas lights and animals. But Grandpa Don later inquired about doing it, so after a lot of prodding and consultation with the weather gods, we eventually organized a crew of seven for the evening.

It took a while for us all to gather – Allen was enjoying his office happy hour a little too much and Molly & Adam, having never been to the zoo before let alone Brewlights, had trouble locating the small mammals house where we'd agreed to meet. But eventually, we were all able to enjoy the lights, some snacks and a whole lot of beer.

We're tentatively back on for 2020.



(To see all the picture, click here).

Tracks in the Flora

One of our favorite holiday traditions is seeing the trains at the U.S. Botanic Gardens, and this year was no exception.  This year Jacqui was able to join us after her high tea with Elaine and Nora, and the Romans joined us as well, so Owen and Nora had other kids to run around the jungle room with while the adults enjoyed wine and we all took in the enchanting trains.

Teaism

Back in 2016, our friend Jacqui invited Nora and I to continue the tradition she'd had with her late friend, Suzanne: an annual holiday tea. We greatly enjoy these outings where we ditch the boys, get dressed up, and enjoy sandwiches, pastries and hot beverages.

While Nora has always been enthusiastic about the excursion, her level of engagement has been commiserate with her age -- there was a lot of napping, dancing and generally questionable lady-like behavior in years past. At ten, though, a vastly more sophisticated Nora has emerged. One who orders tea instead of hot chocolate (she takes it with a lot of lemon and sugar). One who delicately eats her finger sandwiches (and requests turkey in lieu of PB&J). One who engages in conversation throughout the meal rather than reverting to a book.

And, since it's Nora, one who takes unsanctioned selfies.

It was a lovely outing and we're already planning next year's...

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Frozen!

While Owen has generally avoided roles in Disney inspired productions by Stuart-Hobson (he ran the soundboard for both Alice in Wonderland and Beauty and the Beast), he decided that he wanted to join the cast for the Fall musical, Frozen. And since Ms. Pergerson didn't actual have auditions for the role he wanted (the Duke of Weselton), Owen ended up as "Jim, the servant boy" who aggressively passes hors d'oeuvres, doubles as set crew and is in a surprisingly number of scene that don't involve servitude. Adding to the excitement, this year Nora was part of the SWS crew that celebrated the concept of summer with Olaf.

The cast did an amazing job, and had a lot of fun despite the fact that we have not, in fact, built a snowman.

(To see all the pictures -- including some of our friends -- click here.)

Japan

I've been to Japan a few times before, so when another work trip to Tsukuba came up it wasn't quite as exciting as before, but at least I had a direct flight. The conference was productive, the weather was lovely, and the sushi was delicious, but I didn't have much time to see anything exciting beyond a quick walk past the rockets at the Tsukuba Science Center on my way to the bus station to catch my flight home.