Vacation

As night fell across the Magic Kingdom, I watched my oldest son of 10 run ahead of me adorned with requisite Mickey ears atop his ever-growing head. Time paused for a moment as the universe seemed to tell me that this was a point in time that I'd never have back. It sounds magical, but in truth, my son was running ahead as he was about to shit himself, and I was grumpy that we had to backtrack 5 minutes to find the nearest bathroom. But the image of him in that park with that silly hat made me take pause and remember why we were here. I get precious few moments with my two oldest boys, and this was a beautiful one. I'm thankful that it reset my mood so we could enjoy our last few hours in the park.

Sometime around January of 2015, we announced to the boys that we were going to start saving our money for a trip to Disney World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. For two years, they along with us, scrimped and saved up for the trip. They should be quite proud that they managed to come up with the money for their tickets and some extra for nifty gifties.

Waking everyone up at 3:30a to catch our 6a flight out of Columbus was easier than I thought. I wasn't alone in my excitement, and Grandma Vicki's Honda Element Express arrived promptly at 4a to whisk us away to CMH. As we taxied to the runway, Ray was glued to the window as Sam slowly shrunk into my lap. The take-off really got to him, but once we were airborne he had a lot of fun. Arriving in a warm weather climate after leaving cold weather is so nice. I picked our flights to give us some bonus time on travel days, and we spent the first one getting pizzas from a place called Flippers. Really good stuff, made to order, and I'll never turn down a Peroni in an Italian restaurant. The boys went nuts for a few hours at the resort pool as Eliz and I drank our alcohol from buckets. The Floridays resort had lost a bit of its luster, but that evening was as good as any I've spent relaxing.

Our first day at Island of Adventure was an interesting one. Each mishap seemed to be followed by a high point. We forgot the effing tickets to the park, and Eliz scrambled to get on her phone and they got us in. We rushed back to Hogsmeade and the boys were in awe of the snow-capped rooftops and Hogwarts Castle, that is until we learned that the Castle ride was out of order. So off we went to Ollivander's to save the experience, and the boys were chosen for the wand ceremony! Sam's wand wilted the flowers, and Ray's made the bells go crazy. I fought back the tears and gripped Eliz' shoulder so tight I thought I'd left bruises. And when it came time to make purchase of the wands, Sam for reasons unknown, turned down the offer. You're killing me smalls. Some things I'll never understand about my kids.

I dragged my reluctant children through the line for the Dragons roller coaster because I'm a dad. While Sam seemed sheepish, he quietly boarded the coaster. Meanwhile Ray proceeded to flip out and repeatedly scream from the top of his lungs, "I don't want to die"! Eliz and I were seriously second guessing the whole trip at this point. His screaming turned to laughing during the actual ride, and after we finished he couldn't shut up about how awesome it was. Some things I'll never understand about my kids.

We had a blast over the three days we spent at Universal. Diagon Alley was a wonder. You really get the sense that you're in a hidden section of streets in London. The boys had a blast with all the simulator rides, but Spider-man seemed to be the hit. I may have preferred Gringotts though, I'm a sucker for magic (and that dragon is fantastic). The most memorable moment may have been when Sam cast the Aguamenti charm at an interactive fountain at the park and a sizable shot of water landed square on Eliz' head. It was a bulls-eye for the ages. I bought her firewhiskey as a consolation prize.

We spent 3 of our 4 park days at Universal since the kids were more well versed in Marvel and Harry Potter. But much like our Honeymoon, Disney rose up and simply stole the show. The Magic Kingdom has less thrilling rides, no simulators, and nowhere near the comprehensive plan for immersing visitors into a world. Somehow, by sheer charm and old school marvels, they manage to make you love them more. Eliz and I always felt this way, and much to our surprise, after just a few hours the boys agreed.

We planned to open and close the park, which allotted us 16 human hours in Mickey's playhouse, and we did just that. From ride #1, Peter Pan, the boys were hooked. Yes, they upped the ante with the line going through the house in London, replete with Tink flittering about the children's toys and dressers. But the true magic happens on the god-knows-how-many-decades-old ride when you fly over a model of London, and through haphazardly painted dioramas of the Peter Pan tale. It just grips me. I don't even know if I've seen the movie all the way through, and it's my favorite ride in the park.

In less than 90 minutes, we hit Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Buzz Lightyear. Getting there early pays off. Next time, I'm staying on location to get another early hour. I literally beat Eliz by a factor of 100 on the Buzz Lightyear ride. I giggled for about 10 minutes. The longest wait we had was for Space Mountain. The boys were getting a little nervous before this one as well, but they had a great time. I enjoyed it much more at 10:30a than I did at 8a first thing during our honeymoon.

We had the day mapped out much better this time. Restaurant reservations are a must, and even though the Liberty Tree Tavern was a bust, dinner at Tony's more than made up for it. Don't get me wrong, you spend Cameron Mitchell prices for Applebee's food, but when the alternative is cafeteria hot dogs, sitting down for 30 mins at Tony's is a win. After dinner was our mad dash to the finish. Crowds had died down, and we had until midnight to hit the rest of the rides on our list. Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Seven Dwarfs, Speedway cars under the fireworks, Haunted Mansion again, and closed the day out the way we started: Peter Pan.

The ride had some malfunctions, and we waited in line for a long time. The boys were falling asleep at our feet. Exhausted, we asked the boys if they wanted to leave and the both said they wanted to stay and ride one more time, bless their hearts. We toured London and Neverland in our little ships, and soaked up every last ounce of bad paint and magic. After the ride, we walked back thru Main St. USA and turned around to get a last view of Cinderella's Castle. Damn, that thing is majestic. The silhouettes of the boys' Mickey ears against the backdrop of the lit castle gave me the perfect punctuation to our vacation. It's a moment in time of our boys being boys before they grow into men. We took them at the perfect age, and I'm thankful for the stories that we'll get to wear out on unwilling listeners for decades to come.

Staycation 2016

Well, this was a different sort of stay home break from work.

On a typical year, as I have done for the past few summers, I take a week off to stay home with my boys and make my best attempt at showing them how great a summer in Westerville can be. I did the same this past week, only with two major changes. I now have a third baby boy in tow, and on the first day of this vacation, we moved into our new home. Needless to say, many of our normal traditions were tossed out the window as we scrambled to unpack boxes and set up shop so we could eat and sleep.

Sunday, July 3

After a rush of moving from my parents' basement, getting into the house, having our buyers back out of the condo purchase, then getting back in contract within hours of relisting, enjoying our first housewarming gift with my brother & his wife (Woodford Reserve), wading through boxes, finding parts for beds, priming and painting the boys' room to cover up pink and lime green (!), I took a breath, and headed off for Toledo Ohio to fetch my kin. In typical style, I lied to them all the way home, telling them they'd have to live with pink paint and that I wasn't sure where they'd be sleeping. They were pretty elated when they saw it was all set up. Sam walked all through the house taking a picture of each new room. After all the work, it made me so happy to see that they liked it. Ray went out into the backyard and did a few sprints with plenty of room to spare. A big reason for the move was to get them some more space, and to get into a neighborhood where they could let loose. It filled my heart to see them get to enjoy it all so quickly.

Monday, July 4

This was a pretty big shopping day. After 3 days in the new place, we had determined quite a few items in need of procurement. I went electric on a lawnmower, so far so good. No gas. We dragged the boys to Target. We bought a bunch of boring house items, but the boys were more than thrilled with the folding papasans that helped complete their rec room. Since they still had to share a bedroom, we made it a priority to set up a place where they could spread out and play without being on top of one another. We also picked up a store-bought fireworks set for the evening. Asparagus, strawberries, and brats on the back patio satisfied my need for a break from pizza. We didn't have the Westerville fireworks extravaganza in our front yard any longer, but it was more than adequate to enjoy family, sparklers, smoke bombs, and a few neighborhood patriots who shot off some impressive fireworks of their own. 

Tuesday, July 5

Costco day. It had been over a month that we made a real shopping trip, so I loaded up all three boys and headed out. We were rolling two carts deep: one for the baby/toilet paper, one for the food. The boys were a great help, we finished in an hour and capped the trip with a slice of pizza. Home we went so I could keep unpacking. The boys were becoming increasingly vocal about wanting to finish their rec room (I can't blame them, Disney Infinity awaits). That evening we shuffled some furniture around the house to get them set up, and after they very cutely and efficiently arranged their own toys, they were up and running! Between that, and their new bedroom, they were in hog heaven.

Wednesday, July 6

It was hot and muggy: a wonderful Ohio summer mainstay. I was able to try out the new mower, but was generally irritable as I was working outside. I broke the monotony by telling the boys to go out in the backyard and clean up their mess from earlier. But the mess was actually a bucket of water balloons, and by cleaning, I meant throwing them. I blasted them both at point blank, only to then tell them they'd be dead if they hit me back as I walked away. It was surreal to see them run around in the yard playing the same way I did when I was a kid. Visions such as these make all the work worth it. 

Thursday, July 7

We probably did something this day, but all I remember is cardboard boxes and plastic totes. I did, however, get some good Puffin Rock time in with Jules that afternoon :)

Friday, July 8

After spending most of the week trying to unpack while caring for an 8 month old and keep track of two boys, I decided it was time to get out and do something fun. Jules went to Nana's house for the day, and I took the kiddos out for some minor adventure. I decided to treat myself to a drum-kit makeover and spent an hour or so toying around at the music stores. Afterward, we hit up the Westerville batting cages and knocked some balls around. I am really bad at baseball. Much to my delight, I asked the boys if they like Chipotle, and they said they did! We had a great lunch together, then came back to the house to set up my music room. Having a room for playing has been a dream of mine, and with this new house it is becoming a reality. With my amps set up, and guitars hung, we settled in for some frozen pizzas and watched Ant-man to round out the evening.

Saturday, July 9

Saturday, I took the day to have some "me" time, as my brother and a buddy were coming down to play music. I spent the morning getting the house ready-ish to host, which mainly involved taking boxes out of rooms and putting them into others. By 4p, the first official jam session was happening. I've had all the stuff for years, but couldn't play in a condo with shared walls. We were able to turn up and really have a good time. It's a really nice stress release every now and again to let it rip. When the boys got back from the pool, we had pizza (again) and everyone listened to some records and played frisbee outside. To cap off the night, my brother had a fire on his patio. It was nice to only have to walk 3 doors down to enjoy it, as well as to stumble my way back to go to bed. 

Sunday, July 10

Last day off. I can't believe how fast it went, or that we had lived in the house for over a week. It felt like one endless day of unpacking, and it still wasn't finished. In between getting stuff done, the boys and I went for a wonderful bike ride over to a local park. We connect to a bike path, and it's going to be great having access to so many places with it. The local fire station has a water shack for bikers which is a nice touch. When we came back, it was amazing to see Ray, and then Sam be older brothers to Jules. Ray has a natural way of playing with him, and Sam really stepped up and helped me watch him while I finished clearing out the garage. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and talked about life; Sam has a bright future ahead of him. After dinner, we had a wet and wild backyard bonanza which basically consisted of Jules in a blow-up pool and they boys smashing water balloons. Bunch-o-balloons are an amazing time-saving invention, but I think it robs these kids of the appreciation I had for a water balloon when I was young. They went through about 60 of them in under 10 minutes. 

Monday, July 11

Well, back to work and reality after a week long working honeymoon at the Casa di Mara. My mom treated the boys to a trip to the Lego Store at Easton, as well as the AMC dine-in theatre to see Secret Life of Pets. I was entirely jealous. For the evening, we had a Harry Potter night. The Sorcerer's Stone is far longer than I expected: nearly 3 hours! We snuggled up on the couch and shared a magical viewing session, that is until I fell asleep during the movie.

Tuesday, July 12

My mom took all three kiddos to the Zoo. I imagine they saw many animals or varying shapes and sizes. We received our request-to-remedy for the condo, so I took Sam with me to do some minor work. He read the instructions for Stratego on the way there and back. He's also becoming a pretty adept helper. When we got back, I played my first match of Stratego with Sam. It was a throwback to a time I played my neighbor on his back porch when I was a kid. Ray watched as Dad destroyed his son, and walked away to let the boys duke it out themselves. They played several more times during the week. 

Wednesday, July 13

The boys had a water balloon fight at Grandma Vicki's. At home, Ray wanted to do his geode kit. There wasn't much to it, he put on the glasses and smacked them with a hammer. The results were pretty however. We plan to decorate the headstone at Gigi's grave with them soon. When I was a kid, I found buckets full of flint, and used it to decorate my Grandfathers' stones. The boys know this story well and are eager to continue the tradition to pay their respects.

Thursday, July 14

Paw Paw, Grammy, Danica all arrived in town in the afternoon to spend the weekend with us. It was the boys' last night with me as they would be picked up while I was at work on Friday. I didn't see them much, as having a cousin in the house makes for a good opportunity to play hard. We enjoyed a big family meal (skillet brats, don't count 'em out), and I rounded out the evening by doing "our favorite thing" of the staycation. It was good to reminisce, as I saw that amidst all the unpacking, we did manage to have a good time. 

Saturday, July 16

I skipped a day, but it wasn't until after Eliz' dad left that I felt the void of an empty house. Jules was terribly constipated and having a terrible time, and it hit me that after two weeks the boys weren't with us full time. It was quiet. It felt off, like my soul was hungry. Typical ending I suppose, but I love you boys more than you know. Thank you for breaking-in our new home with so much energy and love.

PS- Jules finally pooped that night. Crapsplosion. After such a terrible 30 hours, it gave me such relief to see him back to his normal self.

Foxx Tone Machine

Playing guitar and buying equipment are two pastimes in my immediate family history. I was in 3rd or 4th grade at our old house, and remember my dad pulling his pre CBS Jazzmaster out of wherever he had it stored to reveal to us that he played guitar when he was younger. To a young boy cutting his teeth on Nevermind, Use Your Illusion, and the Black Album, he might as well have donned a cape and spandex.

As the next few years went on, and my brother and I began to play and acquire gear for ourselves, while exploring Dad's old junk. Or at least we thought it was junk. The aforementioned Jazzmaster, a 60s Blackface Deluxe Reverb, and a Foxx Tone Machine fuzz pedal, total value on today's market pushing $10,000; all of which were sold (pause for tears). The Foxx Tone Machine was a nasty fuzz/octave pedal to begin with, and his was in ill repair which made it even worse. At the time, we all laughed at the outdated technology and sound, as we tossed it aside and moved on to more modern distortions and effects. 

He sold the pedal, and a few decades went by without giving much thought about it. A few years back, it crossed my mind and I began to watch videos to see what was what. My ears and mind were blown away by the "thick ocean" of fuzz, which when agitated by the octive* switch (misspelled on the original release), unleashed a raspy lighting god snarl that would make children cry. I had to have one. A quick eBay search revealed that original Tone Machines went for $400 - $700, and inferior reissues for around $300. A more in depth hunt showed me that the owner of Danelectro was actually the designer of the original Tone Machine, and had released a cheap replica of the circuit, called a French Toast, to the tune of $40. Click. Buy it now. Shipped. Fuzz heaven. 

I played it in spurts, the sound was nearly identical, but the quality of the pedal housing was crap. A month ago I decided to pull the guts from the Dano and research parts/theory to rewire it with good components in a metal housing. When all the parts had made their way to my house, I set up shop at my desk and began the process of desoldering the junk from the effects board and researching how to wire it back up. While much of the theory is still above my pay grade, I got quite the education on electronics during this process. I also grew angry and disappointed often as I encountered speed bumps of all kinds. 

Yes, I know it's ugly...

During the removal of the trim pots and other components, I was also getting initial practice with a soldering iron. Bad time to learn, and I damaged many traces on the board. On day two I wired in a few pots, and by day three I had wired ins/outs, leds, 3pdt switches for both fuzz and octave. Trial run, could it be this easy? Plugged everything in aaaaaaand... nothing. No power, no signal, but my true bypass was wired correctly and I had a clean tone when disengaged :) With no multimeter, I tried to logic my way through the trouble shooting, rewiring to points past traces I had lifted, checking joints, etc. Tried again: nothing. This process continued for a few days until I broke down and purchased a meter. I spent an evening or two poking around checking continuity and voltages. Total $$ invested was well over $150 at this point and it appeared as though I was making no headway. 

Friday evening, after a long drive I escaped to the basement to play with the meter some more, on the verge of throwing the aluminum brick hard into a dumpster. I couldn't figure out why no power was reading through the DC jack. On a whim, I removed the shitty jack from the Danelectro board and wired it to my new build. POWER. Holy cow, the Hallelujah Chorus erupted and I dashed to my amp to test it. It made fuzz sounds. Even better. The switches were not wired properly, but that was a quick fix and I made plans for Saturday to finish the wiring and purchase a new jack. 

Saturday morning I took my eldest to the nearest Radio Shack, purchased a jack, and spent the car ride talking circuits. Got home, wired up the new jack outside the box, POWER. That settled it, with switches wired properly, I mounted the jack to the box and made a final test; it didn't work. Christ. To the internet, and I should have realized, metal jack, metal housing, I was sending all my volts directly to ground. The following day I insulated the jack with some rubber O-rings and electrical tape, spent some time sorting out the wiring of the pots, and at long last, everything functioned without major issue. Phew.

That afternoon I removed the guts, and made a first attempt at flocking the housing with my middle son. It was a messy rush job, I was trying to fit too much into our weekend. Luckily, most folks online suggest a second coat. It didn't end up perfect, but the second coat left it pretty well covered and thick. Most importantly, it was fuzzy.

As the final coat dried, I took to Gimp (freeware photo editor) to rework a Foxx label to match my rearranged pedal. I added an octave switch, and realigned the titles to match my pots/inputs layout. I printed it on an ID card maker, the label is plastic, but gets the idea across. I had to reduce the size significantly to make it fit between my components. That's what I get for not planning ahead, but oh well.

Last but not least, I bolted the guts back into the flocked housing, tested it to be sure it was working, and once I was assured she was sound, hot glued the logo to the pedal. So, many weeks of money, research, work, and headaches later, I had my take on a Foxx Tone Machine. My version has LEDs, true bypass, 100k pots, and a footswitch for the Octive control. Satisfied with my work, I got reacquainted with the pedal in its new skin. It is a rich and thick tone, which gets beautifully nasty with the Octive engaged. It begged for some Hendrix, Nirvana, and a staple in our household, the riff to Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla. Somehow, looking down while playing and seeing a replica Foxx housing made the sonic experience more satisfying.

This effort boils down to a bit of a tribute to my dad. The Tone Machine is piece 1 of 3 to rebuilding the rig that got my brother and I into guitar in the first place. It's certainly not a perfect build, but the imperfections will be part of the story. I love the sound, feel a bit more connected to my history as I play it, and hell, I'm getting a lot out of it just looking at the damn thing.

3/28/16 Edit. While functioning sound wise, I've discovered it has a nasty habit of burning out power supplies. I am getting some advise from the friendly folks at DIYstompboxes.com  Pictures below are for troubleshooting purposes.

Christmas 2015

Wednesday, December 23

Who likes waking up at 3a for a 4a start to a road trip with a two-month-old? This guy. One of the better decisions I made this holiday season (and between you and I, that is saying something.) Hardly any traffic, just beat rush hour in Indy, and we were in Columbia in time for coffee. Jerry snagged Jules as soon as we got there and they proceeded to nap together several times throughout the afternoon. It was a pretty lazy day, and I appreciated that. Arriving at her Dad's house, Renee put together a gift package of baby supplies which came quite in handy, as we had forgotten to pack a great deal of care items. 

Thursday, December 24

Christmas Eve in Waterloo. It was a cozy and relaxing day. Eliz' Dad kept asking if we were bored, but I think we were both quite content to just sit around and enjoy each other's company. Eliz watched It's a Wonderful Life for somehow the first time in her life. Jimmy Stewart screaming "Merry Christmas" sounds much like a Raptor. Eliz' whole family came over to her Dad's to meet the baby. Her Dad smoked a turkey and it was delicious. Jules, on the other hand, decided not to sleep very much, which kept us up most of the night. C'est la vie. 

Friday, December 25

Christmas in Columbia, IL. I'd been around for one of these before, but this was the first time for an actual December 25th to my recollection. We had biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Well, biscuits, gravy, eggs, OJ, sausage, cookies, the works. It hit the spot. Her family seemed to fly in and fly out, but looking at the clock, 5 hours passed in no time. Seeing Meaghan's backward stocking always gives me a laugh. We flipped it around so it faced the same direction as the rest, but then her name was hidden. It's a win/win situation if you ask me. We made a quick stop at Great Aunt Delores' house before getting back to Chez Dell. An elf fixed the toilet before putting on the family personalized pajamas, and headed to sleep at 6p. Great day, great trip back to Illinois. 

Saturday, December 26

I did a little bit of driving that day. 2a wake up call Central Time to make the trip back to Columbus. Upon arrival I took a nap for an hour or two before loading up some drums and heading north for my now annual Christmas Jam/Sleepover at Ed's house. He had a few friends over and as per usual he got me to drink more than I had planned. We gave Elizabeth a few holiday tunes in the key of Heavy for her Facetime concert. She always gets so excited for those. 

Sunday, December 27

I picked up the boys around 10a, and we swung by Meijer to pick up Christmas breakfast and an angel for Grandma Morrisey. We started off our "Christmas Eve" by visiting the cemetery. I miss my grandma a lot, and not having her around for Christmas still feels wrong. At my mom's house, we ate a lot of italian lunch meats, and I'm pretty sure she had purchased every flavor of Pringles available in the lower 48 states. I tried to prolong the wait as long as I could, but we buckled to the pressure from the boys and opened presents. I feel as though adulthood has sunk in nearly fully, as I let presents stack around me so I could concentrate on the kiddos opening their things. The boys got new Jelly Belly's, of which each olor had a good/bad flavor. My brother and I both grabbed a black one (could have been licorice or skunk spray), we both got skunk spray. I had to spit mine out, it was like a release of toxins into my mouth. We finished off the evening with our annual viewing of A Nightmare Before Christmas. At home, the boys requested that Eliz read Santa is Coming to Ohio, and I gave yet another inspired interpretation of The Night Before Christmas. The boys left a smattering of treats out for Santa and some skim milk with ice in it. I hear he likes that sort of thing. 

Monday, December 28

The boys woke up at a reasonable hour to open stockings. We didn't have to do the usual 5a wake-up necessary for the tour of Christmases we normally do. For the first time that I can remember, I was able to have Christmas morning together with my family without the need to leave the house for other Christmases. It was magic. The hit toy was their emoji splat balls. Basically a squishy ball that splats... They played with them so much that Ray's didn't last the day :) Ray couldn't stand the wait as we made breakfast before we opened presents. He sat and stared in visible anguish at his first gift under the tree. I think everyone liked what they got. Sam was surprised by his robot, and Ray shouted when he opened his Hulk toy, only to ask what it was a few seconds later. I've trained him well. We got to make a mess with all the wrapping paper and didn't have to clean it up at all. It was heavenly. Nana Sherry and Kaitlyn came over later to do their gifts with the boys. My brother, Felicia, and Lexi came over as well. Lex was like a kid again racing slot cars with the boys and getting into a lightsaber duel, or triuel..  A perfect mess of a day. I can't wait till next year. 

Tuesday, December 29

Clean up day. Sam made huge progress on his robot without any help. Given the level of complexity, I imagined us needing to work on it together quite a bit. I'm proud to say that I've only been involved a few brief times and he has done the rest of the work on his own. The boys played Disney Infinity 3.0 as well, it looks like a fun upgrade from the last version (Update: it is.) We watched Inside Out after dinner which was a movie-night gift from Pawpaw Rod and Grammy. 

Wednesday, December 30

Star Wars Battlefront. All I remember is amazing graphics and laser fire. Sam made more progress on his robot, and Ray played with every toy he got for Christmas in rapid-fire succession. Laser fire.

Thursday, December 31

My brother had some extra tickets, so Eliz and the boys went to Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 3D. I'm glad she got to go, and in the meantime I loaded Jules up in the Baby Bjorn and made a large Costco run, which was quite successful I might add. We went to my brother's house that evening for New Year's Eve. The boys stayed up until midnight and Ray was "super dramatic about it". We had a quick jam session on my brother's new drum set. The ladies of the family cracked the Mara argument code, which apparently involves a revolving door of music, sports, and super heroes. I don't have any idea what they're talking about. Closer to midnight, Jules did not appreciate our many attempts to get a picture of us kissing him. He didn't appreciate it at all. Regardless, I got to kiss my lady, and we all got home safely to get a night's rest.

Friday, January 1

With Eliz' family, New Year's Day is a thing, so we went to Nana Sherry's. The boys were excited to play I Found It, a rather complicated I-Spy game designed for 4 year olds, but that required several adults with several college degrees to figure it out. The boys drank hot chocolate from their new lego mugs. Sam made a neat and tidy "S" on his mug, Ray made a rather abstract "trapped gorilla". All things aside, it was some red and blue bricks covered by some white bricks. It was another good time spent with family. 

Saturday, January 2

We went to Grandma Charlotte's for our last Christmas. There are a ton of kids there and it's usually pandemonium with my brother serving as the catalyst. All three boys got some sock monkeys, Ray was unexplainably excited about his. I'm hoping this wasn't related to any penis innuendo, but the more he giggles, the more I think it is. Eliz and my mom tag teamed getting me the apparently discontinued Duncan Heins Fudge Marble Cake, paired with my mom's chocolate butter cream icing. It was fantastic. At home, Eliz got me some awesome gifts, not the least of which was Road House on BluRay. Everyone is entitled to a guilty pleasure. We had some Apple pie and Pumking during the movie, and before I knew it I'm asleep. I'm hoping to squeeze a birthday pizza out of the deal for Sunday (I did.) 

Sunday January 3

Sam and Eliz ran some errands and Sam exchanged a few books at Barnes & Noble, so Ray and I stayed home and played Battlefront. We had our jam session today. Sam wrote a new riff that we worked on, and then the usual tunes; Sam's song, Brain Stew, Smoke on the Water. I always hate the end of a vacation, but I have to say I was quite satisfied with the way this one turned out. So much time with family, and I'm left wanting for nothing. Tomorrow, Eliz and I go back to work; Eliz for the first time since Jules was born. Real life with a baby begins!