The Christmas Letter

Yesterday was Christmas and I still don't have the 2015 Christmas Letter done. I've been struggling this year. What should I write about? Hmm - perhaps a brief chronicle of our travels based on a few of my favorite photographs of 2015? 

Our first family trip of 2015 was over Spring Break to Puerto Rico (Alu and I went to India in January but that was sans famille, and the kids and I went to Florida in February but that was without Jo). Vivian, Evan and Jo are at their best when mixed with plenty of sunshine. They tried to turn as brown as me. Vivian is starting to get into the ocean by herself though Evan still sticks to me like a limpet.  

A couple of weeks later, for Easter we drove an hour from Austin to Slumber Falls. It wasn't really much of a trip but I include it here because this photo will remind Vivian and Evan that travels need to be neither far nor exotic to be meaningful.

And for the next trip I digress even further. This is definitely not a trip. Vivian and her friends have just stepped off the stage after performing Jai Ho - an average Bollywood number, at a talent show at Vivian's school. Vivian found the time to practice, organized the whole thing, taught her friends, found them Indian costumes, and pulled it all off. Vivian, I hope you will look at this photograph decades from now and say that y'all are still friends. 

For our next photo, Vivian and Evan are with their cousins, aunts and their friends in downtown New Braunfels, a mere 45 minutes from home. They are at a rally supporting equality. A few days latter, they and millions of others around the country were rewarded with a Supreme Court ruling that essentially legalized gay marriage in this country. It was a short trip but I hope that for Vivian and Evan it was a one way trip past bigotry.

At the start of summer we went to Nebraska and stayed at Casa Nebraska with Carol, six dogs, two aunts and six cousins. And more cousins next door. Yes - they bonded. Then on to New England. We stayed with Alu and Michelle and visited with Simran who was doing a summer at Harvard. Next, to a lake house in Massachusetts with Vivian and Evan's childhood friends who taught them the slow art of hanging out on a boat dock.

From New England to New Mexico to see Vivian and Evan's uncle's ceremony at the air force base where he handed over command. More cousin time. 

As the summer holidays wound down, the kids spent the last few days back in Austin at their "white wooden house" enjoying time with their dear neighbor (thank you for the photo, Karen - this is my favorite 2015 photo).  In the Fall, we went to London. We visited my friend who I have known since we were Evan's age. And Simran - who by now had moved to King's College. 

We ended the year with a short trip to Canyon Lake yesterday (from where I write this post). Carol, her four children, their spouses, thirteen grandchildren, and Michelle's dad, Jimmy. You can see several kids in beanies. Carol made one for each grandchild for her 70th birthday.

I set out to write about our year of travels. But, instead it is our year of family and friends. We went far and wide and close to home to visit them. And they have forever become a part of Vivian and Evan's memories and lives. 

I'm stealing a line from a card we received. Merry Everything and Happy Always. And may 2016 be filled with more friends in all our lives.

Love, hugs and kisses from the crew at the white wooded house.

December 26, 2015

Good Light

While we were hanging out under live oaks at the William Chris winery in Hye enjoying a beautiful day I managed to get a couple of photos of the kids that I like. The camera on my phone is acting up, so I am lugging around the aging Cannon but the light was perfect and the kids were slightly cooperative.

It was eighty degrees and there was a nice breeze. Hard to believe that it is the 23rd of December. Speaking of dates, belated happy birthday Bu. My dad would have turned 92 yesterday.

Cousin Time

In a couple of days it will be the reason for the season - Carol's 70th birthday. Jo's siblings and their families are converging on Central Texas. Yesterday we had lunch at the food truck lot near Zilker and then walked along Barton Creek. It was a stupendously beautiful afternoon. I took two photos of the cousins. Somewhere in the two seconds between the first and the second photo Evan briefly turned into the devil (look closely at his eyes). Scary.

Today we went to the William Chris winery in Hye and then stopped by at the Garrison Brothers distillery and the Hye Market. If at all possible, it was an even prettier day than yesterday and we sat and enjoyed wine under live oak trees while the cousins horsed around. Good times.

Winter Break

Since the start of the winter break, we have been creative. Jo and Vivian have baked up a storm. Jo calls them Pintrest Failures. I'm not going to judge whether they exactly look like they were supposed to on Pintrest or not but they taste pretty darn good. Evan, myself, and neighbor Karen aren't complaining.

Speaking of creative, last Friday school came to an end with the Winter Concert. The kids got dressed in black and white and we spent three hours listening to our and others children singing in many languages. It was, as always, a gut wrenching experience. In the photo below, Vivian as in the first row middlish, looking towards the left. Evan, apologies for not getting a photo of you. Everything is blurry because we were standing behind the last row and that was a long way off from the stage. Next year can we please bribe the kids by dangling a nice early trip somewhere far away?

And speaking again of being creative, on Saturday Vivian and Evan walked out into the back yard and made this wreath (okay - their version was slightly sloppier and I helped them execute a little better). Jo was impressed and we hung it on the front door.

Home Alone

After two different parties yesterday evening, Jo still managed to head out with the kids to Houston this morning. Brandon's birthday. I have the day to myself. I took a walk around Town Lake with plans to return home and finish my Christmas shopping and take care of about half a dozen persistent items on my to-do list.

Town Lake was beautiful and empty. The trail was covered deep with feathery cypress leaves. I took my time. Then I came home and read for the rest of the morning and napped. Jo just texted to say they are leaving Katy and heading home. I better get started on my list.

Belt Testing

During a marathon testing session on Saturday, Evan moved up to a solid orange belt (this is is "before" photo) and Vivian to a purple/yellow belt. Evan's big deal is that he got invited to wear a black uniform. His instructor picks students who she thinks are ready for a "leadership" role, whatever that means at his age. Evan is happy. He told his friends that his sister (who has worn a black uniform this school year) invited him to it. Much to the worry of his friend who said "But I don't have an older sister. Who is going to invite me?" 

Vivian as usual enjoyed the sparing portion of the test. Here she is in her green belt getting ready to kick her friend. You can't see her face but she has a huge grin on it. Not a malicious "I'm going to hurt him" evil grin, but a fun one. Her kicks are getting better. She can reach my chin.

Behavior

Sounds like the Clockwork Orange, but Evan needs periodic behavior modification. One afternoon Jo and I got an email from his teacher that he has been a bit too turdish. He needs to rein in his voice, try to mostly speak in turn, respect others, and listen to his teachers' instructions. We instituted a system of positive reinforcements and checks. At pick-up we'd ask his teacher how he did. If he continued to do well at home he'd get a smiley face. Smiley face tomorrow and you get ice cream. Four more smiley faces this week and you pick your treat.

He's been almost an angel. Yesterday was Saturday and because he hadn't been able to expend his turdiness during the week, he had some left over for his sister. But still, a huge improvement.

Vivian had a very interesting conversation with me the other day. She and her girl friends at school have read up about how girls change during puberty and she's pretty sure they are going through it. The boys are still "running around cluelessly", but the girls are beginning to "look at the boys differently". I think (or should I say, I hope) this is what she thinks should happen and so it must be happening, even if it actually isn't. But I loved her ability to put it all in to a conversation and to be able to reason through it.

Either way, behaviors are a-changing.  

Phamily Photos

Jen gave us a session with a professional photographer for Christmas. She has been beseeching us for years to get professional family shots and finally decided to take matters into her own hands. So on Sunday morning we got dressed for church and went to Rattan Park and met Bonnie who told us how to hug and hold each other and laugh (not smile) while her camera clicked away. Evan mostly kept it together but towards the end he just couldn't hide his aversion to the lens.

These two are the best of the lot.

Just kidding. Later that afternoon Carol drove down to Austin and after brunch at Maudie's we went to Town Lake for a walk. Evan isn't happy in this photo, not over the usual camera thing but because he was mad at me. He tried to run ahead of the rest of the group and hide from them so he could jump out and surprise them. But he hid in plain sight. Only his head was hidden. And because he couldn't see them he was convinced that he was fully hidden. He got mad when I tried to explain. Vivian isn't happy because the "walk was too long" and "wasn't any fun". 

What fun. 

We are picking out the best five from Bonnie's photos and they look pretty good. You'll see them here soon.

Trail of Lights

The Trail of Lights is one of Austin's tacky holiday tradition. Not as cool as the now fading but at one time amazing 37th street lights, but nevertheless a tradition. It opens with the Trail of Lights Fun Run - a mostly walking meander through about two miles of Zilker park and then the quarter mile stretch that is garishly lit up like a Indian wedding. This year's logo on our bibs said "I'll Walk. Yule Run". Tacky, right.

This year we "ran" it again with the Tenny's. We met for dinner at the food truck lot near Chuy's and while the kids played and joked ("Oh - my butt is broken" "How?" "It's got a crack")  the adults fortified ourselves with holiday spirit. Then we walked to under the giant "Christmas Tree" (no tree, but a lot of lights hung around one of Austin's famous moon towers) and waited for the run to start. There were six thousand of us. I kept getting Evan to rehearse my phone number till he got it right, in case we got separated.

Here's some of the crew. Evan isn't there with Jack and Sam and Sampson and Izzie and Vivian because his schtick is he doesn't like to be photographed. But we managed to stay together through the run.

You can see how happy Evan is with the whole thing. At the end of the trail I bought way overpriced hot chocolate ($30 for 4) and we gathered around the Yule logs to warm up. The chocolate was terrible and we had to throw it away and drink free beer instead (what a compromise). But it didn't cheer Evan up.

Books

Jo has a thing about taking on orphan projects that no one else wants to. Last year she organized a book drive at school. And it was so much fun she decided to do it again. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, hundreds of piles and boxes of books seemingly converged towards the multi-purpose room while students and grand parents milled around in their midst.

The school had invited grand parents to come visit their grandchildren during the morning. Vivian and Evan were both expecting their Grandma. But Carol was sick and as it would be better for her not to throw up on unsuspecting kids, we agreed the evening before that she should cancel her visit. That was when Jo, myself and the kids were eating pizza at a new restaurant next to the school. The pizza had just showed up. It was really good and Vivian was stuffing her face with it. Then she overheard Jo talking to Grandma on the phone and when she figured out what was happening she started sobbing. Big huge drops of tears on the pizza.

We contemplated hiring a grand parent. But they are hard to find on short notice. So Jo called Nicolle who happily agreed to battle work traffic and drive into Austin the next morning to stand in for poor Carol. All was good and the pizza eating continued more cheerfully.

Nicolle spent time at both Vivian and Evan's classes and ate lunch with them. And then parent volunteers and students and grand parents and loving aunts helped organize the books into boxes. Later that afternoon the books were carted off to Book Springs in several cars, vans and trucks. Here we are sitting on a small section of the boxes. The school donated a few thousand books again this year. Sometimes I think this parent community isn't too bad.

Christmas Tree Shopping

I t was the Sunday morning of Thanksgiving weekend and it was misting and cold. A perfect morning to go Christmas tree shopping. Instead of going down half a mile on Lamar to where the Optimist Club sell trees from a grassy lot beside the street we drove for half an hour to the Elgin Christmas tree farm. We got there a few minutes after they open and the muddy parking lot was already almost full. While waiting in the cold drizzle for the tractor to take us to the trees, we experienced the joy of listening to Vivian and Evan whine while Jo and I tried to be reasonable.

"It's raining"
"Yes, it is, dear"
"I'm cold"
"Put your hands in your pocket, sweetheart"
"It's still raining"
"Yes, honey"
"It's still raining"
"Fucking amazing, isn't it?"

Finally the tractor with a trailer lined with hay bales showed up. The hay was too wet to sit on so we held on to each other and the tractor dropped us off in a tree lot. Much squelching around in the mud ensued while the family critically analyzed several trees. Too thin, too fat, too tall, tilts to the left. Eventually we stopped the kids from exploring further and got them to reluctantly agree on a tree. Then we took turns with the hand saw to cut it down. By then the drizzle had stopped and the kids were occupied. The tractors that were headed back were full so Jo and I carried the tree back to the farm house (functional fitness), had it bagged and then we hoisted it up on the car and drove home.

We rearranged the living room to accommodate the tree and and here it is before the kids and Jo decorated it. Once the red velvet tree skit went up around the base of the tree, Crazy happily curled up and slept the whole night under the tree. I think she thinks she's glamping.