Cousins

Okay, I was trying to get a shot of the three kids together before we left for home this morning, and I hoped that they'd all be looking at the camera. I can be so dim sometimes....

Napping on the Back Deck

We came out here to have a kickabout with the boys' new mini ball-and-goal set, but we just ended up stretching out and having a brief snooze. Maybe it was the tryptophan....

Elena's Dinner

Is it just me, or does it look like she's thinking, "Dad, where's your silly paper hat?"

Christmas Dinner

A tripod, a 10-second delay on the camera, and voila — we're all in the shot. This one's not perfect, but everyone was too hungry to wait for me to reset.

Elena & Pikachu

Can't quite decide whether she looks fascinated or frightened here....

Cam Helping Ian

One of Ian's presents was a magic ink book, which included a sort of hidden maze game that Cam helped him complete: "Now do this one, Ian...now do this one, Ian...."

Elena's First Christmoose Ornament

We picked this up at Moosehead this summer: a Christmas tree ornament of a moose holding a baby with a placard below, on which Joanna painted "Elena 2008."

Santa Cam

For those of you not in the know, that's a Pokémon in his hand. He told us this week that there are currently 493 of them, and he knows pretty much every detail about every one.

Karen & Elena

Elena's first Christmas means the obligatory bow-on-the-head photo.

Arthur's Prezzie

A bit later, the adults began opening their presents.

Cam & Pikachu

Left for Durham at about 9:30 on Christmas morning, arrived just after 1:00, and the boys began opening presents soon thereafter.

Pokémon Battle Dome (finished)

It took me what felt like hours to put this together — enough time, anyway, for the boys to open all their presents. Cam's pretty happy with it, though, so I guess Santa did all right.

Ian & WALL-E

These are Cam's, actually, but he was busy playing with Pokémon, so Ian temporarily pinched them.

Cam's Headlight

Perfect for reading in a dark bedroom. Or mining.

Pokémon Battle Dome

Directions: Insert tab 36 into slot 41B. If this doesn't work immediately, try again but with more force and a few choice words mumbled under your breath. Get angry at it — maybe that will help. When (if?) you finish, pour yourself a drink — you've earned it.

"Santa's been!"

Is there anything more heartening than the first cry of a child on Christmas morning?

And is there anything more deflating than having to break through several layers of packaging to get to the toys? or dealing with the unconscionably enormous mounds of wastepaper afterwards?

Still, on balance.... :)

Reindeer Food

Cam brought a bag of reindeer food home from school last week, which we dutifully spread over the lawn so Rudolph et al. won't go hungry while Santa is delivering presents tonight. It looks a bit like outmeal with glitter.

Cookies for Santa

It was tough getting Ian to choose one but not take a bite out of it.

Watching Mickey's Christmas Carol

Christmas Eve Dinner

It's just the four of us (plus pets) this year. (Kinda wish I'd remembered the tripod stashed in the coat closet before tonight!) Tomorrow after presents we'll drive to Durham.

Cam's Science Experiment

Put a little vinegar in a cleaned out Coke bottle. Put a little baking soda in a balloon. Stretch the neck of the balloon over the neck of the bottle, and allow the baking soda to fall into the vinegar. Watch your six-year-old's eyes expand with the balloon. Cool.

Ian Coloring

For whatever reason, over the last week or two, Ian has become really interested in his crayons and coloring books.

Luci & Mickey

It didn't happen immediately (largely because Luci is still young and excitable), but eventually the pets got along quite well — another couple of days and they'd have become good friends.

Now that's just rude!

I think Joanna may object to my taking pictures of her....

Cam & the Mince Pie

Cam has been spending quite a bit of time reading and re-reading this blog over the past few weeks and has particularly enjoyed the giant space mince pie entry. While eating dessert after our pre-Christmas dinner, he kept repeating, "Look out, it's another giant space mince pie!"