The 2013 Christmas Letter

Jan 1, 2014. Hyderabad.

Namaste. A happy new year to you (it turned 2014 about five hours ago).

By the end of 2013 Evan was proudly and firmly "thwee and thwee quarters" and won't stop talking - to anyone about anything. In a complicated world he is firmly grounded. "My sister knows everything". And "I love my mommy and I love my daddy and I love Vivian very much". Good and bad, honest, raw and in your face, he is without any pretense and is one hundred percent pure Evan.

Vivian is cool and intellectual and independent. She is in her self-proclaimed tom-boy phase and prefers monkey bars and caterpillars and planning escapes on board trains bound for Mexico with boys named Diego. She is complex and keeps her deepest thoughts to herself. When I get a glimmer into her otherwise self-absorbed world I am surprised and almost alarmed by her goodness.

After spending two years with us, one in India and another in Austin, my dad died this year. I see a legacy of love and hard work and generosity. But like ripples from a rain drop, one in a million, one's life is quickly forgotten - within decades at best. Biology however is a better record keeper. Every day I see my dad more clearly in the mirror and in Vivian and Evan.

We started 2013 on a harrowing late night boat trip in Belize and ended it reluctantly letting go my dad's ashes in the Krishna river. But I will remember 2013 as a year of family and "our white wooden home" and cooking dinners and reading stories aloud and doing nothing remarkable at all. It slipped by almost unnoticed but I can hardly complain. I wish you the very best for 2014. With Jo's humanity. And Vivian's happiness. And Evan's love. And my dad's kindness. And a promise to be more informative in next year's letter.

Love
-arun

(the person to my right is Narahari who worked for my dad for more than three decades)

Christmas

Christmas was a blur. On Christmas Eve Vivian and Evan woke up in Grandma's bed at Lost Pines and knocked on the common wall and Jo went and got them. Then we walked downstairs and ran into T-Bone and Ribeye looking sharp in their Christmas regalia. The kids promptly dressed up in elf costumes and took a turn on the longhorns after which we headed back to Austin via a quick detour to downtown Bastrop. We had to buy these "magic glass" eggs from this girl who had set up a sidewalk store outside her parents' pharmacy downtown and had sold the kids on the glass eggs the night before but we didn't have our wallets then.

From Austin Carol continued on with the kids to Canyon Lake while Jo and I had a peaceful lunch and tried to get ready for Christmas. We wrapped gifts, did a spot of shopping and drove like maniacs down I-35 to get to Nicolle's church in time for service (I had it on the tip of my tongue all the way but it never needed saying "Sorry officer but we'll be late for church"). The service was beautiful. Every time someone mentioned God, Lord, Jesus or other Names - which is often in the case of a Christmas service,  Grace shot a look in my direction to detect the fireball she assumed I'd go up in.

Then Vivian and Evan enjoyed quality cousin time while we enjoyed three soups (chili, tortilla soup and dal) for dinner before we headed to Canyon Lake for the night.

After asking "Is today Christmas?" for all of last week, Evan woke up sleepily and roused the rest of us to assemble by the tree on Christmas morning. Vivian found the prominently displayed Santa gifts. She got exactly what she asked for. "A red shinny poofy dress!"

 

Evan had asked for "a light-up gun that shoots money". Evan stripped off the wrapping and stared at an Amazon cardboard box and said "Santa got me a box!" and seemed happy enough. He was even happier to find a pair of light-up guns inside, though Santa apparently doesn't approve of the shooting money part. And he was the happiest when he found the air packing in the box and said "Look what else Santa got me!".

And they got all kinds of other cool stuff from their parents and uncles and aunts and had a good time.

Vivian made a very nice scrapbook for Grandma and though she did all the work she generously said that it was from her and Evan. Grandma loved it.

We ate a Christmas brunch and headed back to Austin early afternoon-ish to start getting ready for the next trip.

Ponies and Horses

Sunday was an equine kind of day. In the morning Vivian and Evan and Ava went on pony rides. Later the grown ups went out on horses. These horses were young and strong, not the usual fare of tourist trail rides. And Karen - our resident horse expert - seemed to approve. I felt I was in a Marlboro ad.

Cow Pillows

Lost Pines in decorated in cowboy / country ranch style. By the fireplaces there are these couches that have cow bolsters - which Evan loves. The whole bar is in cow furniture. And Evan found Christmas cow stockings at the ice cream shop. Neither Jo nor I were there when this happened but when Jo walked in, there was an ongoing conversation between Evan and Grandma about it.

Grandma: "That cow wasn't killed - it was slaughtered."

This was apparently just after Evan realized reluctantly that you can't make something out of a living cow's hide. Grandma was trying to make him feel better that by telling him that the cow wasn't just killed for that stocking - that it was slaughtered for it's meat. Evan digested this bit of news. Then, remembering his favorite bolsters by the fireplace, he quiveringly said:

"I'm so sad about my cow pillows"

Later we were at the fireplace. He hugged the pillows. Then he said "may be the cow was sick and died". Then he found an imperfection in the fur and pointed to out to Tim and said "the cow had an ouchie here. See. So it died and they made this pillow from it."

And then he had prime rib for dinner and stake the next night.

News

Right now there's a diplomatic tiff between India and the US. A lot of people, specially in India, are hot under the collar. Here's a post from a school mate on FB:

The ideal, suitable response by India is to withdraw all diplomatic relations with the US ... and ask to withdraw the US ambassador ( a lady ... subject to strip search ?! ) with immediate effect. 

Our Foreign Minister should resign with immediate effect.He has failed not only his colleagues but the prestige of the country. [etc...]

I heard about it from an American friend a few days ago. Since then I have been on the lookout but I haven't seen it mentioned on my google news page. Here are 30 headlines that beat it out this evening. 

US will intervene in South Sudan: Obama
3 Egyptian activists get prison terms for protesting
Faith leaders call on prosecutors to investigate Jahi McMath case
Analysis || Bus bombing marks slow but sure rise in Palestinian terrorism
In Toronto, aid to flow even without emergency declaration
Al Qaeda Branch in Yemen Regrets Hospital Attack
Free to Speak About Russia, but Now From a Safe Distance
Suicide bomber kills seven outside Libya's Benghazi
Manchin Compares NSA Surveillance To 'Big Brother'
Utah will ask judge to stay own ruling on same-sex marriage Monday
Community support after loss of Claire Davis
Girl's glasses deflect bullet in drive-by shooting
Five die in Kentucky flooding; record heat in New York
Apple reaches deal to bring iPhone to China Mobile, world's biggest phone carrier
Citic Sees PBOC Staying Out of Market to Curb Debt: China Credit
Sen. Chuck Schumer calls for full investigation into Target credit card hack
Shazam iPhone app now listens for music, TV shows automatically
Snowden is A LIAR and we never fiddled crypto says RSA
Snapchat holiday update lands on Android with filters and features galore
5 Biggest Stories of the Week: Duck Dynasty Scandal, Bindi Irwin Shares Pics ...
Vin Diesel Announces Release Date for Fast & Furious 7--Find Out When the ...
'The Hobbit' Holds Off 'Anchorman 2' at Box Office
Denver Broncos clinch AFC West with win over Texans
Roberto Luongo leaves game with injury
At Long Last, Rangers Make Themselves at Home
Packers miss final throw, lose 38-31 to Steelers
Romo throws late TD; Cowboys beat Redskins 24-23
Robots to the rescue at DARPA trials in Florida
Greenland ice stores liquid water year-round
Drilling down on the necessity of dental X-rays

I was curious so I looked under the "World News" link. And lo and behold - there it was - the last of 19 world new stories. A lot of people obviously care. And a lot don't. As google arranges its stories by what gets searched for and read more often, and localizes them for where you are, this reflects the news reading preferences of Central Texans. Nothing to be proud off. But still - just like politics - all news is local. If its doesn't affect you, you don't care.

Bomb Explodes on Israeli Bus, No One Hurt
Al-Qaeda in Yemen apologizes for hospital attack
The political battle behind the storm
Free to Speak About Russia, but Now From a Safe Distance
South Sudan rebels hold key oil-producing city
3 Egyptian activists get prison terms for protesting
Libyan checkpoint attacked, seven killed
Rodman's N.Korea Trips 'Embarrass State Dept.'
The nuclear deal and the future of Iran
Bangladesh factory owners face homicide charges in deadly fire
EM ASIA FX-Baht slumps to near 4-year low on political tumult
Thousands demonstrate in Istanbul against Turkish government
'Let us not forget'
Pilot's Actions Eyed in Mozambique Air Crash
CIA helped Colombia hunt and kill FARC guerillas
Ukraine protesters urged to stand firm
Lucky Spaniards enjoy early €2.5bn gift in yuletide lottery
Analysis: Why has Netanyahu been silent over NSA spying on Israel?
Online petition asks White House to drop case against Devyani Khobragade

Bike

Evan now rides a bike. If you can't see the video here the youtube link is: http://youtu.be/GjiMZ3H57Yk

Last weekend Evan and I went to Mellow Johnny's and tried a few bikes. They had training wheels. He didn't like riding them. We came back home and decided that it probably wasn't time for Evan to ride a regular bike yet.

Then today we tried one at Lost Pines. No training wheels. Five minutes later Evan was on his own. He still needs help starting and stopping because his feet don't touch the ground. But otherwise he's good. And so excited.

Happy Birthday Bu

My dad would have turned 90 today. I am celebrating the day with Evan and Vivian and Jo and Carol at Lost Pines. The kids rode bikes, posed for photos on the longhorns, and strolled along the banks of the picturesque Colorado. They spent last night in Grandma's room and this morning we knew they were up when Carol set Vivian down on our balcony so she could knock at our door.

When we were growing up in Hyderabad, Sunday lunch at the Secunderabad Club was the thing. My dad and mom would go about their own business, swimming at the pool and reading at the library while Alu and I ran with Sharath and Praveen and Juju and Gopsi. We played and swam all morning to work up a monster appetite. When the doors to the buffet opened, we were the first ones in. And we ate so much we had to nap afterwards.

At Lost Pines every meal is a buffet. They'll have to carry me out of here on a longhorn.

Holidays

Evan finished up the semester on Thursday. He was very excited that his teachers gave him candy canes. He kept one aside to "give to my sister because Vivian's teachers did not give her a candy cane". Vivian finished her semester with her winter concert on Friday morning. Vivian's class sang Christmas and Chanukah songs in Spanish and English (that's her in the middle of the front row in the white dress with the black sash and her hands clasped in front). But then you have to sit through four other classes of other people's children singing at least as un-harmoniously. Which is more than enough to drive out any warm or happy holiday thoughts.

Happy Birthday Brandon

Last weekend we were in Houston for Brandon's seventh birthday. I vividly remember the day he was born. Laura drove herself to the base hospital at Fort Hood. Jo was very pregnant with Vivian. Patrick was in Iraq. Vivian and Brandon have been at each other's birthdays since except when we were in India.

This year the party was at a roller skate rink. Vivian rolled around very confidently with the walker. Evan needed the walker and Mom. The kids played hard and slept all the way back to Austin.

Christmas Tree

Last year Vivian and I selected the tree before Jo and Evan got there. It turned out to be too heavy to unload from the top of the Subaru, too wide to get through the front door, too tall for the living room, and too large for the tree holder.

So this year we all went and got it done right. Jo and I set it upright and strung the lights and put the topper. The kids did everything else between handstands. All the ornaments ended up being about two feet off the floor in one patch of the tree. But we let it be.

Dining Room

The dining room is almost done. The chairs arrived last week. Jen provided the flowers. Jo says it looks like a winter wonderland ("too much white"). I like it. Then I sat on a chair in my new Banana Republic jeans and the chair turned blue. So glad I didn't learn not to do that on the couch. It isn't here yet but it's white. Naturally.

Vivian and Evan still eat like barbarians. There's not much they can do to a cast iron and steel table and painted white chairs (we hope). But they would be better suited to Dining Room 1.0 - the old concrete slab on the chunk of wood with cushions on the floor, circa 1995.

Almost Done

Another semester is almost gone. And Evan's and Vivian's after school classes are winding down. Evan finished cooking class by bringing home gourmet gingerbread men. Here he's trying to run away from his cooking teacher while I try to take a photo. Looks like Ms. Tammy has a sweet smile and a grip of steel. Though you can't tell from the photo, Ms. Tammy's class is Evan's favorite.

And then Evan and Vivian finished their "swimkhana" on Wednesday. Evan can float on his back and with a bit of support from his coaches he can swim about. I suspect that he's not fully letting go because he likes his cute girl coaches to hover around him. Vivian can swim well enough to have fun in the water - which she absolutely loves.

Evan had his last day of gym class on Friday. He seems to be in his element in the gym. And he gets along very well with Mr. A.J. - his gymnastics coach. On Saturday Vivian had to skip her gymkhana so she could do her belt testing for taekwondo. Now she kicks ass in a yellow belt.

Next semester we want the kids to have more unstructured time and fewer classes. And less chauffeuring around. Better kids. Lazier parents.

Five Baby Brothers

Here's a photo of Evan and his friend at the school playscape a few months ago. When Jo and I went to pick him up from school on Thursday they were playing on the same playscape. Some words were exchanged and I saw Evan push his friend. I asked Evan to apologize to her. He said he had and I said that as we hadn't heard him, it wouldn't hurt to apologize again. He refused. I started counting to three. Evan started crying.

A few minutes later he had calmed down and looked up and saw Jo carrying his friend's little brother.

Evan: "Are we taking him home?"
Me: "No. That's A's baby brother."
Evan: "I want a baby brother."
Me: "Not going to happen."
Evan: "Mommy - can I get five baby brothers?"

Acid Rain

Vivian's last unit of enquiry at school was about the planet and the environment. She learned about acid rain.Yesterday  I left the car running for a few minutes in the morning to warm it up. Vivian came up to me and said urgently "Daddy - turn off the car!". Why, I asked. "Because you are making acid rain."

And Evan is armed with even dangerously less information about it. When I dropped him off at school it was raining. I got him out of the car and told him to put on the hoodie of his rain jacket and run inside quickly. He said "Why daddy? Is it because it's acid rain? Is it going to kill all the plants?"

I tried to calm him down. "No Evan. It's not acid rain. It's because you'll get wet."

The end of the innocence. The photo above is from September. Before acid rain.

Emotionally Stunted Fashion Diva

On Friday afternoon during Evan's nap time, Vivian crafted this costume out of odds and ends and walked up the stairs. "Daddy - what do you think?"

On Saturday morning, as we are all lay in a pile (including Crazy) in bed:

Evan: "Mommy - I love you this much" (and he sticks out all ten fingers). Then he continues. "Daddy, I love you. I love my whole family. I love you, Crazy. Vivian - I love you."

Vivian continues playing with the piano app on my iPhone. Me: "Vivian - can you please acknowledge what Evan just said".

Vivian without looking up: "Evan - what did you say?"
Evan: "Vivian - I love you."

By which point Vivian has lost interest in the conversation again. Me: "Vivian?"

Vivian: "Oh. Okay Evan."
Jo: "Okay? Is that all?"
But we had lost Vivian to an old issue of The Economist by then.

Old Roommates

Last Sunday I heard one random line from the "Selected Shorts" program on the radio. The reader said "One must keep a nodding acquaintance with one's previous selves because they will come knocking one night at 4am". And that made me think back to some of my previous selves and that I hadn't seen my old college roommate Robert in a decade. Then yesterday he facebook-messaged and asked if I'd be interested in coming out to see a line-up of three Brazilian bands at the One-2-One club. I agreed and invited Jim, my Austin world music expert. I cooked dinner for Jo and the kids. Jo said "Kiss daddy goodnight - he's ditching us" - which they did, and then I left for the evening.

At the club Robert met me warmly and introduced me to his girlfriend. She was pretty and seemed a bit distracted. I stuck out my hand. She said "Paula". I said "Hello Paula. Arun". And I instantly forgot her name and returned to my conversation with Jim. Through the evening Robert and I spoke often. I noticed that the club was getting crowded. Some people wore t-shirts which said "Paula Maya". Then the second band finished playing their set and the mc said "And very soon we'll have Austin's own Paula Maya and her band on stage". And Robert's girlfriend got on stage and played amazing keyboards and sang like a nightingale for the next two hours. When she finished I went up to the stage and complimented her on singing beautifully and hoped that it made up for my seeming rudeness for not having made the connection earlier.

Crazy For You

When we are on short trips we leave Crazy at home with food and water. That's what we did when we left Austin on Tuesday morning of Thanksgiving week. When we returned Saturday night, Crazy gave us a few earfuls. Jo let Crazy out - figuring thats the only way we'd get some sleep and Crazy some fresh air. And then Crazy disappeared.

After a few days we worried that she may have ended up as raccoon bait or a smudgy spot on 45th street. I smelled a decaying scent in the garden and went to check it out with a flashlight. It was time to prepare the kids. Vivian with her emotionless black hole was excited at the prospect of making "Lost Cat" signs for the neighborhood and immediately got down to work with crayons and paper (I suggested "Have you spotted our pussy?"). Jo put Crazy's photo on the neighborhood list server asking if anyone had seen our cat.

Next morning (Wednesday) Jo heard Crazy meowing outside the front door. She stepped into the house as if she had just checked her email and realized that we were looking for her. We scooped her up to examine her for injuries and out of sympathy for her having spent four nights outside. We found that she was fat, soft, happy and clean. She must have decided to ditch us for a few days and she found herself a nice alternate family and home. 

Since her return Crazy hasn't left our side and is making a purring pain of herself. And because we had almost given up on seeing her again, we are tolerating her better than we would.

I'm a Zucchini

Austin's schizophrenic fall continues. Our oaks are turning a nice shade while the pecans are hopelessly confused. Today's high is in the 80's. Low of 66. That's tomorrow's high and then it drops to freezing. Meanwhile our slow redecorating project hit another milestone yesterday with the installation of a nice antique chandelier above the dining table. It replaces the eight dollar spherical paper lantern that has hung there for nine years.

This morning we sat under the elegant glint of the chandelier in our grubby t-shirts and had a breakfast of pancakes. Grandma is briefly in town and Evan requested pancakes because that's what Grandma fixes for him. Evan and Vivian enjoy trying to scare Grandma. But ever since she killed a snake in her bathtub with a spoon and a blunt knife the kids have had to up their game. This morning Evan put on his t-rex face (which is his pirate face plus clawed hands) and snarled at her. Vivian had a much more terrifying psychological ploy. She hurled herself on Carol's lap and said "I'm a zucchini - eat me". Carol's fear of eating anything green is legendary around here.

It's a Race

Evan is sometimes a bit competitive.

Last night after I finished reading them their books I noticed that Vivian and Evan were dawdling instead of going to bed. Jo glared at me as if it was my fault (she had cooked dinner and cleared up - which did give her the moral upper hand). So I resorted to lazy parent trick #1 - make it a race. Both kids ran down the hall to be the first one in bed. When I got there, Vivian was clearly in bed while Evan was still grumbling.

Evan: "Vivian says she won"
Me: "Vivian is in bed. You aren't".
Evan: "Vivian - it wasn't a race"
Vivian: "It was"
Evan: "Vivian only says it's a race when she wins"

Evan jumps into bed and quickly covers himself with his blankets. Vivian is still sorting her comforter out.

Evan: "I won"
Vivian: "No you didn't - I was in bed first"
Evan: "No - the race was to see who is covered up first. I won."

This morning I'm in the kitchen fixing them breakfast (salami-omelet breakfast tacos). I hear Evan grumbling in the hallway. "Vivian - it wasn't a race. You only say it's a race when you win."  

Reminds me of what an old sailor on Lake Travis said when we were tying our boats up at the dock. "If you're both sailing in the same direction, it's a race".

White Wooden House

Holidays and vacation are fun. But eventually Evan's mind turns to thoughts of his white wooden house. Yesterday we left Lariat Ridge after having dinner with Carol and we drove homewards. Vivian soon nodded off peacefully. Five days away from home had left Evan a bit anxious. He chattered all the way home. And during the last ten minute stretch he was almost distraught.

This morning the kids jumped up on the slide at Ramsey park and pretended it was their ship and they were pirates. Yes - that's Evan's pirate face. That and breakfast tacos and chocolate milk from Taco Shack makes for a nice homecoming.

Teo's

Teo's is Austin's best kept gelato secret. And Tuesdays are two dollar gelatos at Teo's. Whenever possible we meet Simran there. And Jeanne is usually armed with enough art supplies to keep everyone entertained and busy for a while.

Last week the Christmas tree at the plaza was lit. We've had Simran and the kids pose in front of that tree for a photo for years and this time was no different. The pictures we take there are, for some inexplicable reason, uniformly hideous and I usually burry them in my digital trash heap. But this year's is so spectacularly bad I had to post it. I admit that I had to doctor the colors to make it look so good (they are greener than martians in the original). Simran looks like a devil hunkering down beside two midgets. And Evan like a zombie about to attack.

Inside they had a "hand-turkey" drawing contest. Both Simran and Vivian refused to draw hand turkeys and instead drew free hand turkeys. Here's Vivian's entry. Nice wattle.

Guadalupe River

Though the river flows a couple of miles from Lariat Ridge we travelled about 20 miles upstream from Canyon Lake to the Guadalupe State Park for three days of camping. The first day and a half were cold by central Texas standards. Overnight lows were below freezing and the days didn't get a whole lot warmer. I am glad to report that my sleeping bag still works.

The kids didn't feel the cold. We took short hikes everyday and their favorite was down to the river where they played amongst the majestic bald cypresses. Here are some pictures from one river hike. It's hard to describe how much fun these eight kids have when they are together.

One evening around the campfire Devyn suggested a game where each person gets the next letter of the alphabet and that person has to talk about something they brought on the trip that starts with that letter. Even Cade and Evan joined in and played. I got the letter "r" and Kai whispered the winner in my ear which I announced loudly "I got my really pretty wife with me".

Thanksgiving Lunches

We skipped Thanksgiving lunch at Vivian's school so we could skip town a day early and head over to see grandma. But last week we did go to Grace Garden's delightful Thanksgiving lunch.  Pastor Paul led the lunch prayer to give thanks with a song (Evan and Rowan didn't participate so I felt less awkward about not joining in the singing more whole heartedly). Then the older classes dressed up in pilgrim and Indian paper hats and sang a couple of songs. And finally Evan and Rowan wouldn't be outdone and they did their own impromptu singing for our table.

Carol had to work on Thanksgiving day so we had an early family dinner (with salmon instead of turkey!) on Tuesday. The next day we woke up and drove to Sattler for our traditional donut and kolache breakfast and walked the trails downstream from Canyon Lake. Vivian was her bright and radiant self while Evan radiated disgust for being made to walk when he could be carried instead. But we made it there and back without carrying and then all was good.

Later that afternoon we got Carol's camper ready for our impending camping trip. I went out to ostensibly saw down some logs for firewood and soon found a nice spot to put my feet up and soak up the beautiful Texas hill country sun and reflect on this most American of holidays. And to find that I had a lot to be thankful for.

Rosedale Park

Over the years Rosedale school's park has been one of the places our children return to - again and again. And that's where we were last Sunday when Austin got one of it's  periodic schizophrenic cold spells. The kids ran "relay" races around the basketball courts and then collected leaves of various colors and shapes for their mothers.  Evan as usual was still in his pajamas. Seems like that's his normal state.

End of RedBlack

For the last couple of years my morning routine twice a week and sometimes three times included the RedBlack gym. It wasn't a special place but it was mostly red and black on the outside. It never had a sign or an official name and soon it became RedBlack. I have added gallons of sweat to it's black rubber horse stall mats. And have tried to grind down the pavement in front with yokes and sledges and other devices of pre-industrial transportation.

Jo went there at least as frequently as I did. Gordon joined me about a year ago. Vivian and Evan were regulars too and once showed up dressed like Jen and Travis.

Sometime last week it was painted grey overnight and will now become CrossFit Central's midtown location. There's Jen leaning on the wall after my last workout at RedBlack.

And here is Travis County Strength taking shape. It's their new gym. Delivery trucks brought in new (yea!) black rubber horse stall mats and shinny new kettle bells and weights and boxes. And there's Travis along with everything you need to start any new business venture - white boards, cookies, and champagne. And Evan and Vivian in the audience. Good luck my friends.

Rosedale 20

It's only December and just barely. Limited edition 20th Anniversary t-shirts are being sold and riders are registering. We are way early and hopefully with all of your help we'll have a ride worth remembering. Members of the Longhorn Band entertained Rosedale students at the Thanksgiving luncheon and promised to try to return for the ride on March 22, 2014.

And Evan will ride the 2-mile kids ride in a real pedal bike!

Like us on facebook (www.facebook.com/RosedaleRide) to keep up with the latest news and to help spread the word by sharing your social reach. Looking forward to seeing several of you at the ride (including someone from Nebraska - you know who).

Fitting In

Our living - dining redecorating marathon slowly drags on. In the world opposite of Ikea it turns out that everything takes 14 weeks to make. A 14 week period must have recently ended because one morning a crew of men wandered in and installed a couple if built-ins. Evan quickly found a space for himself.

Bowling for Sleep

Last weekend Ava was with us for a sleepover. We took the kids bowling to get them nice and tired so they would sleep tight. It worked. And it was fun. I suspect the bowling alley will see more of us.