Return of the Christmas Toys

Ian spent a lot of time this afternoon staring at these toys with a befuddled look, as though he were thinking, "These look familiar...." It's as if he almost remembers last Christmas, but not quite.

Christmas Tree

Cam and I left Durham around 8:00 this morning and made it home just before noon. First order of business: break out the tree and set it up. Joanna and Ian got home at about 1:30 to begin supervising the decorations, which were all on well before dinner. I miss getting a real tree every year, but this is so much easier, and we don't have to kill a perfectly fine living thing every year, which probably earns us some karma points (Christmas karma).

Cam Doing Crosswords

After five hours walking around at the museum, Cam needed a bit of down time.

Inside the Apollo Capsule

They had a lot less technology in the 60s than I'd realized. And what's with the bear?

Mechanical Reindeer

A special installation by the guy who does the Christmas windows at Bloomingdale's in New York.

Cockroaches!

Cam: "Cool! One's riding another one!" He was less pleased with the tarantula.

Air Cannon

Hit the loose drum on the back and shoot air at the target. It didn't help that things were a bit windy.

Sailing

Remote controlled sails and rudder, no motor. Cam's is the boat with the black stripe.

Cam & Bug Wings

Reading the Map

After a few exhibits and a brief train ride, we stopped for an early lunch in the café. Cam insisted on navigating throughout our visit.

Making More Music

Cam Making Music

Yesterday, Cam and I went to the NC Museum of Life & Science in Durham, a very cool place. This is the SoundSpace room — the floor is divided into a nine-square grid, and cameras in the ceiling detect motion in each square. As you move from space to space, a synthesizer plays nine different instruments (e.g., strings, drums, singing birds). Cam spent a good ten minutes running around here.

Karen & Arthur

Fatherhood does things to a man....

Chris & Her Girls

Tough to call them "girls," really, when they both have children of their own, but they'll always be "my girls" to Chris.

Ian & the Trains

These used to be Cam's favorite toys; now they're Ian's.

Pile of Boys

Tumbling together in Karen & Arthur's back stairwell.

Sharing with Elena

Ian thought Elena might like to help him play with his Legos.

Thanksgiving Dinner Table

On the menu: turkey, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce/jelly, carrots, whole wheat rolls, stuffing, sautéed squash, corn on the cob, pumpkin pie, and apple crumble pie.

Elena & Her Mommy

She's holding on here like some sort of gibbon.

Ian on the "Big Boy" Swing

We went to the same playground yesterday, and as soon as he saw the pool, Ian went up to the fence and tried to take his clothes off. Today he seemed more interested in swinging.

Cam Swinging

Nana is working on teaching him how to pump his legs to he doesn't need a push every time.

Ian on the Slide

This one loves to slide, but he likes to control his descent by putting his shoes against the sides of the slide, which only increases the static charge he builds up.

Walking to the Playground

While Karen and Joanna work on Thanksgiving dinner, we took the boys to the playground to have some fun and work off some energy.

Elena in Her Bouncy Chair

Making Pumpkin Pie

Cam was an excellent assistant pie baker.

Dada & the Boys