12 days: The family picture, and a little more

And the countdown begins. It's an important part of the holiday season—the obligatory family photo, the one that is included in the family album and often in the Christmas cards; the one that gets posted on the blog. We took ours today at Calvin's second piano recital, thanks to a tripod and the helpful fingers of family. We snapped a few extras, too.

Sinterklaasavond, it's that time again.

I've written almost exactly this entry before, but isn't that kind of the point with traditions? In the Netherlands, the home of much of our heritage, they love Saint Nicholas the way we love Santa, possibly even more. And who wouldn't? Forget the crazy flying reindeer, this guy comes in on a logical steamboat and brings crazy Zwarte Pieten with him, plus candy and small presents. St. Nicholas arrives earlier than his Americanized counterpart, so we've added the habit of kicking off our holiday season with this Dutch tradition. The extra time shared with family is the best part,

and opening pakjes,

eating Dutch food,

and then we put our wooden shoes by the fireplace and go to sleep with visions of gouda dancing in our heads. My verve for picture taking took somewhat of a backseat to cleaning, wrapping, and cooking this time around and I'm lucky that Jon likes to play with the camera sometimes, too, or there would be none to share. There are none to share from St. Nicholas Day morning, though, when we were still in bed whiel Calvin disovered his shoes and the little goodies in them (an orange, some change, and a new book to read). We're going to have to be a bit more on top of these on Christmas morning...

Chicago for Thanksgiving

I cannot remember a single Thanksgiving that was not spent by my family in the state of Michigan. In my earlier years Thanksgiving was spent at my grandparent's house in Pleasant Ridge, and later at their home in Brighton. As the years went by Thanksgiving moved to my house, my parent's house, and then I moved out and was again a guest for that holiday. Changes really get away from you from you at that point and in no time I was bringing my own family to my childhood home for that celebration. But through all those years Thanksgiving was always spent in Michigan, so this was a very special Thanksgiving indeed that saw the three of us and my parents pile into our van and head to Chicago to spend the holiday with Curtis and Julie and her family. The traffic was light (we left early Wednesday morning to be assured of that) and the weather was congenial until we got there (when it turned to a mix of snow, ice, and rain).

Just like being at the kids' table again, all the parents stayed at a nearby hotel while all us kids stayed at Curtis's place. We visited a liquor store the size of a small local Kroger, smoked turkey on the roof of Curtis's building, roasted marshmallows, watched parades and football, and shopped Michigan Ave on Black Friday. We even ate dinner and played pool on the same furniture we enjoyed at my grandparents' house in Brighton, and enjoyed the family recipes from both our past and from Julie's. It was a great trip.

Turkey on the roof...

Taking the train town for shopping...

Bloomingdales in downtown Chicago is in the old Medina Temple, and the new owners have a done a wonderful job of integrating, or at least protecting, the original architecture. Best stop of the day, excepting maybe our browse through Room and Board.

Sitting on a million dollars of carpets in Bloomingdales. Really, a million dollars worth at least—the top carpet alone was $35,000.

It was a good trip.

You only turn 30 once

Unfortunately, I've already been there done that, but Jon's turn was still in the making until this past weekend. I'm not sure why it took me until the day before he hit his fourth decade to realize that he turned 30 on 10/10/10. Now that really only happens once. We celebrated the way we most enjoy celebrating special occasions—with good food and family. Jon's mom planned a dinner with both of our families and I made his favorite pumpkin dessert. Thirty. He's finally in my decade.

Chicago for Labor Day

Where else would we spend the long weekend? Since we have gotten most of the yard work done for the year, that is. It had been a while since we visited Curtis and his digs in Chicago so we packed up the night before and headed out early Friday morning in order to avoid general holiday traffic. Curtis can really make the big city feel like a small one—we picked up fresh meat at the local market, ate at a restaurant where he knew most of the staff, and played in a local neighborhood playground. He can also show it off to its full advantage, mile upon mile upon mile—on Friday we drove to the Aquarium, on Saturday we took through the city to dinner, and on Sunday we walked the four plus scenic miles to the beach and Navy Pier. It was the best of many worlds.

This was actually our second time at the aquarium, though I'd forgotten how incredibly expensive it is. And how worth it. It was a serious discovery visit for our curious four year old.

We caught a 4-D movie, then settled in to watch the fantastic dolphin show they've always been known for. I still remember taking in their great water show back in middle school, and I think we were all looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, like Sesame Street and so many other wonderful entertainments from our childhood, the Shedd Aquarium water show has become over-produced, over-technologied, and over-acted. We wanted to see dolphins, penguins, and beluga whales, but we saw more of the changing lights, wire-flown people, and the probably over-paid six year old with the disgusting fake smile (who we were supposed to believe was indiscriminately chosen from the audience, liars) than we did the beautiful animals. I wrote them a letter.

 The rest of the aquarium was amazing, though. Really enjoyable.

There are lots more Aquarium pictures in the Chicago album.

Then we rowed our way back to the condo to grill fresh steaks on the roof and take in a gorgeous sunset, even if it was a tad windy and chilly.

Saturday we shopped resale just for the aesthetics of it, and used books for the good literature. We also tried the door at the Museum of Holography, but we, like the people wo left he note on the door in the dust, knew it wouldn't be open.

Shopping in Chicago is fun. Duh.

And the next best thing about Chicago (besides the company, of course) is the food. Duh. Though Calvin might say it was the train ride we took to the fabulous, fabulous Mexican restaurant where Curtis knew everyone and we took our own wine.

Sunday was the most beautiful of all the days so we spent it outside, heading to the beach while touring the city on foot.

And the Navy Pier, of course.

 And a final night, this one absolutely beautiful, of grilling and eating on the roof.

Julie was there, too. And Calvin is the new photographer. It was a great trip, and now we're home. More pictures in the Chicago album.