Christmas in the City

Having spent Thanksgiving in Iowa, we were in DC for Christmas. We briefly considered a return to our pre-pandemic holiday party, but with Owen not getting home from school until the 13th, Noa's DCYOP rehearsal on Saturday and concert that Sunday followed us going to NYC the following weekend, we really didn't think we could take that on. So instead we hosted Mom Mom & Grandpa Don as well as Nancy & Danny for Christmas Eve and then headed to Mom Mom's and Grandpa Don's for Christmas.

For Christmas Eve, I made pasta dough, vodka sauce, salad, and cranberry pecan tart, Allen made cocktails, Allen and Noa made gemelli (using the pasta attachment Danny gave them for Christmas back in 2020), Noa baked the Christmas cake for the next day and also made pine nut, rosemary bread. Owen cleared the table. Afterwards there was a rousing game of marbles and an intense discussion about nuclear power, before everyone headed home and to bed.

The next morning we had cinnamon rolls that Mom Mom had made the day before and then opened presents. While Duck went through detox from the catnip that was in their Christmas stocking and the rest of us chilled, Noa started decorating the Christmas cake. Several hours later, we headed up to Sharon & Don's to celebrate with them, Nancy & Danny, Jen & Ahzer and their kids.

There we enjoyed cocktails, Oyster Rockefeller, grilled leg of lamb with sides, presents, and Noa's cake for the piece de resistance. In between Noa entertained the seemingly inexhaustible Ollie and Ivan until Noa finally collapsed (Ollie and Ivan were still at it) and we headed home to recover before New Years in Utah...

(To see all the Christmas pictures, click here.)

Alls Well That Ends... Well

Having seen it closing night of its debut at Arena Stage, we were all really excited when we heard Swept Away was going to Broadway. So much so that Allen suggested we get tickets over Owen's Winter Break. The entire family agreed and so Allen got tickets to the matinee, booked a hotel room (right next to where Swept Away was playing, and purchased train tickets.

And then everything went wrong.

First, while we as a family are enthusiastic lovers of musicals about shipwrecks and cannibalism, apparently most theater critics aren't. After being middling reviews in the press, the show cuts its run short, and refunded our tickets. We briefly considered cancelling, but the train tickets weren't refundable, so we found a cannibalistic-adjacent musical, Little Shop of Horrors. Allen bought the tickets for the day and time of our Swept Away performance. But, apparently, there was an outcry over the cancellation so they re-opened the show, including for the day and time we had planned on going. But Little Shop of Horrors tickets aren't refundable either so we decided to leave it up to chance and if Allen and Owen could get night tickets to the evening show so they could go while Noa and I chilled. They couldn't.

After an uneventful train ride (well, not totally uneventful. We played "Hearts" and Allen "Shot the Moon" twice in a row after which we decided to teach the kids "Spades"), we headed up to our hotel where we left our bags and headed to brunch. We had more time to kill than we originally thought, so it ended up being a bit of a boozy one for Allen and I (Noa had a mocktail; Owen had water). We then headed to the show, which was lovely, though darker than I remember (the movie had a bit of a Hollywood ending, and I don't remember how the one our high school put on ended). Afterwards, we went to check into the hotel, only to find that they'd given our suite away and instead put us in two rooms, extremely far apart (and the kids' room was nicer). 

Still we rolled with it and let everyone chill for a bit – though potentially for too long as Noa fell into a deep sleep and didn't realize that they had agreed to go see the lights at Rockefeller Center in 21 degree weather before dinner. Fortunately, Owen was a witness and so given we had proof they'd agreed (plus they'd brought their school digital camera and wanted to get some cool pictures for class), Noa grudgingly joined as we walked form Broadway to Times Square to Rockefeller Center, took of pictures, and then encouraged us to head back for dinner before we crashed for the night.

Unfortunately, I woke up in the middle of the night with a migraine. Fortunately, check-out at the hotel wasn't until 11 am and our train wasn't until 3:30 pm, so we rested, checked out and then walked a few blocks to get breakfast. While there, Owen received a text saying that out train was cancelled though the rest of us did not. It's unclear why Amtrack decided Owen should be the bearer of this news, but there you are.

With some extra time and me still having a migraine, I headed back to the hotel lobby while the rest of the crew headed to the Nintendo store. While there, both Allen and I finally received alerts about the train, so we rebooked for a 6:30 train, headed to the Moynihan Train Hall where I found a quiet place to guard  the luggage and ride the migraine wave, while Allen, Owen and Noa headed to the Museum of Illusions (which Noa had heard about).

A good time and several hours later, they returned to find me finally feeling better. The kids copped a squat by me while Allen went for a little more sight-seeing. Only while he was gone, I saw that our 6:30 pm train was cancelled, so I texted Allen who was headed back and had just seen an alert. By the time he arrived he had miraculously booked us on a 5:15 pm train (which hadn't been available earlier). Since it was 5:05 pm, we rushed to where the trains were only to discover that that train was delayed for an unknown amount of time. Eventually, Allen heard through word of mouth that the train was an hour and 45 minutes behind schedule, and I was able to track down on the website that the 5:15 pm train was now expected at 7:30 pm, so we decided that we had enough time to get dinner at the food court.

Everyone ate on the floor of the Train Hall in front of the Departure Information Board where no information was being shared. Eventually, we realized that the train was heading to the station around 8:15 pm (it was running ~3 hours late due to a downed wire on the tracks outside Philadelphia and some frozen tracks throughout the Northeast Corridor) but we didn't know what track it was heading to, so while everyone else figured out it was going to Track 9, I had Allen waiting in line at Track 13. As a result, by the time we got into line and the train arrived, there weren't any seats together (and certainly not the reserved table we had from our original booking).

Fortunately, we were able to get a table in the dining car, where we played cards again for most of the trip home. We arrived at Union Station just before midnight and walked home while cracking jokes and workshopping Noa's latest movie idea before we finally arrived at the house and all crashed.

Which is all to say that while pretty much nothing went right on our trip, we really did have an amazng time together. It was trip to remember, though we are unlikely to head back to NYC in the Winter anytime soon.

(To see all the pictures, click here.) 

Reunited

Owen had his last final on Friday morning. Since he was kicked out of the dorm 45 minutes after finals ended and Allen and I both had to work, Grandpa Don was gracious enough to pick him up and drop him off at home. We celebrated his return by attending the annual Botanical Garden holiday party that evening followed by dinner from the Roost (though we accidentally forgot to include Owen's meal...). Despite the omission, we really are excited to have him home for the next month and get some 24-7 Owen time.

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Thanksgiving 2024

Per our pre-determined schedule, we celebrate Thanksgiving in Iowa on even numbered years. However, 2024 was also Owen's first year of college which meant we had less control of his schedule and couldn't really argue that he skip classes in order to drive 28 hours roundtrip. So instead, we booked a flight from DC to Cedar Rapids on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and hoped for the best.

It actually worked out well. I picked up Owen from school Tuesday night and despite Noa nursing a cold that caused them to skip their viola lesson, we still indulged in family game night with a rousing game of Munchkin (Noa won). The next morning we grabbed an Uber to the airport for our direct flight to Cedar Rapids. The flight was smooth enough, but Noa's cold worsened (and weirdly, their back started hurting too), so we got our rental car and quickly drove to Mom & Dad's (after briefly trying to get sandwiches at Nodos – it was closed for the holidays), only to discover that they and Dave (who's arrived the night before) weren't there. Fortunately we were able to break in and get Noa settled so that Allen and Owen could drive to West Branch for lunch, see the Fawcetts, explore the construction on Thomas and Jen's house, and visit John's grave in honor of what would have been his 81st birthday.

While they were out, Mom, Dad and Dave arrived home from the grocery store. We did a quick inventory to see if we needed anything else for the big day and made up a game plan for Thursday (once we found out when Steve and his crew were coming). Once the boys returned, we sent Owen on a walk with Grandpa Z (Grandpa was anxious for an outing and none of the rest of us felt like braving the cold). After they returned, we largely settled in – had dinner, cleaned up, and moved Noa from our room to the basement for the night.

The next morning we started cooking, although at a more leisurely pace than previous years and with a better distribution of labor: Allen did the turkey and gravy; Mom did the stuffing, green beans and cranberry sauce (she had already made the pies); and I did the rolls, mashed potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes. In addition, Dave made turkey cupcakes (though Kara, who couldn't come but sent tons of treats, had intended that to be a cooperative effort).

Steve and his crew arrived around 12:30, having only recently returned from Scotland and Olivia's Master's Graduation Ceremony and the University of Edinburgh. After some general frivolity (even Noa felt well enough to join in) we sat down for a lovely dinner (well, except Noa. They asked if they could lay down about 10 minutes before we sat down so we assumed they were down for the night, not realizing that they intended for us to call them when we were ready to eat...). Afterwards, we indulged in pie, turkey cupcakes, cookies, and some family pictures before Steve and his crew (sans Sam who decided to stay at Grandma & Grandpa's) headed to their hotel and crashed.

The next morning, Dave headed out early to drive back to Des Moines in order to catch his flight to Colorado Springs. Steve & Becky stopped by shortly after to collect Sam and depart to Schaumburg. We helped Grandma & Grandpa Z put up the Christmas tree and got in a family game night of hearts (I kind of destroyed the rest of the family).

The next morning we headed back (though maybe we headed to the airport a little earlier than necessary). When we got home, everyone else headed to their rooms (Allen was starting to come down with what Noa had) while I went to the store and then made dinner. Afterwards, we had another family game night (marbles, Owen won).

Sunday morning I baked some cinnamon rolls that Noa had made and frozen the week before (school bake sale extras) while Allen and Owen headed to Eastern Market to get Owen a much needed haircut and us a Christmas tree). The plan was once they returned and got the tree up, I would take Owen back to school since Allen wasn't feeling great, while Noa met up with their friends to see Wicked. Only while the boys were off doing their errands, Allen discovered we had a nail in our back tire (which made me really grateful that we didn't drive to Iowa for the holiday). 

After attempting and failing to get the car fixed at the local tire shop, we opted for Plan B and called Mom Mom and Grandpa Don who agreed to drive Owen (and Allen) back to school. In the end Noa headed to the movie and went out for dinner afterwards, Owen and Allen went with Mom Mom and Grandpa Don to St. Mary's (which meant they got to see Owen before Christmas and enjoy some crab cake sandwiches along the way), while I decorated the tree by myself.

It was a lovely, although hectic, start to the holiday season and we can't wait for Owen to finish finals so we can really celebrate when he can be home for more than 24 hours.

(To see all the holiday pictures, click here.)