The Manoloewens: Christmastime!

On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional meal: spaghetti alla carbonara! The boys got to open one present, and we chose it for them--stuffed Husky dogs to sleep with. They weren't actually wrapped because they were too big, so Cassius was upset and got to open a small present, which pleased him. The boys went to bed, and soon enough, it was Christmas morning! And by soon enough, I mean 5 am when Cassius came in. I sent him downstairs where Kate was so that he wouldn't awaken everybody, and Maceo came in at about 7 which has become his normal wake up time during vacations. We piled downstairs and opened the stockings. There was candy galore, including two pooping windup toys that pooped red and green candies. The boys thought that was ever so funny. Cassius opened his first gift and chose the one from Santa--a snowboard!

Nice job, Santa!

Maceo also chose to open Santa's gift first--a toy called the Turing Tumble which is kind of an analog computer for him to figure out. It's pretty cool.

He was baffled by it since his Santa list was 100% Pokemon cards.

We continued opening gifts--shoes and pants and games and towels and bathrobes--all sorts of great things.

Then, we ate the traditional Loewen family Christmas breakfast: scrambled eggs with bits of bacon in it and pastry. After breakfast, everyone played and cleaned up and had a good time. The boys helped me take scones and gifts to our neighbors the Pughs and the Bigelows. And the Bigelows got the boys two great presents: Amulet 8, a graphic novel series they really like, and a game called Loopin' Louie, which they've been playing every since!

And Lo! The Angel of the Lord gave them Amulet 8!

Eventually, Kate took the boys out to lunch with some friends who are Jewish. So they did the traditional Chinese lunch and playdate that many Jewish families do. And in the afternoon, the boys and I went over to Mom and Maurice's for presents and dinner. Mostly, this involved having the boys open all the presents their realtor gave them. And the boys really liked that.

But they also got their own presents: some airplanes to build and throw, and best of all--hats with built-in lights!

Our family friends Paula and Richard were there, too, with their German Shepherd Tara. We had a terrific roasted capon, which Maceo liked. Cassius, of course, liked his applesauce and yogurt. And they both loved the bûche de Noël!

Focus, focus!

Maceo was a little more meditative about his bûche de Noël.

It was a lovely, family-filled day, and the boys were wiped out on our return. Cassius didn't even get to watch a video before bed, as he fell right asleep in my bed.
The next day, we began writing thank you cards to send out. Cassius was very serious about the task.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow..."

Knocking on the Bigelows' door to deliver the thank-you card.

We took advantage of the last remaining weeks of our membership to Port Discovery, a children's hands-on museum in Baltimore, to go on an excursion. At the museum, the boys played soccer (which has been their favorite thing to do these past weeks),