Christmas Day

The boys arrived at my house at about 10:30 Christmas Day and immediately went to their stockings. Inside them were Mad Libs (a big hit with Cassius), chocolates, ornaments, Chinese soup spoons, and other things. Now, Cassius kind of knows the difference between adverbs and adjectives! He fell asleep last night with a pen doing a Mad Lib by himself in bed. (That's how he got pen marks on his shoulder and neck, in case you saw him out and about recently and were wondering.)

Soon, Grandpa and Grandma Sue came over to open presents and have the traditional Loewen Christmas breakfast of eggs with bacon, stollen, and sausage. Before we ate, we opened presents. Maceo received a great present from Grandpa--traveling to several different burger places to taste test burgers (Maceo's favorite food)! Cassius is less of a foodie, but he got a food taste test present, too--he and Grandpa get to go to various restaurants to taste test hash browns and they would end at Dunkin' Donuts to have hash browns and a donut. (That present happened on the 27th, and the consensus was McDonald's had the best hash browns and that chocolate dipped French crullers are the best donut.) The boys made chocolate chip cookies for Grandpa and got Grandma Sue a fancy bottle of wine from our neighborhood French restaurant--the owner has his own wine label.

EXCITED FOR MOAR HASH BROWNS ROAR!

The boys, as astute readers of the blog know, enjoy the NFL. They each received several appropriate gifts from me--t-shirts and socks and pjs-- , and our lovely neighbors the Bigelows gave them hats and gloves from the Ravens, one of their preferred teams.

Action shot of football fans.

More Ravens gear!

The neighbors on the other side of us, the Pughs, gave the boys a tabletop fooseball set which has been a blessing (because the boys really like fooseball) and a curse (because they fight over the rules and if it was a goal or not). 

Cassius's big present was a fluke. Perhaps you remember that Cassius won an overnight with a Tesla? 

Well, he received a card from Santa explaining the whole situation and you can see the realization of such an incredible gift grow on his face in this GIF I made:
                                                                                                                                                               

via GIPHY

Breakfast was very good, and we even got to FaceTime with my cousin Giovanna, her daughter Winnie and my Aunt Mary off in Romania for a brief but lovely call. Maceo devoured the eggs and bacon, and a suspicious Cassius learned he likes Weihnachtsstollen.

In the evening, Mom and Maurice came over for dinner and presents. Their favorite gift? A huge box for Cassius that contained his winter coat he'd left over there one afternoon by accident. He was a very good sport about it, too. He's really developing some good humor when he isn't having a tantrum. For example, Grandpa often calls a grandchild "XXX P. McGillicuddy", placing whichever grandchild he is speaking to in the name. One night recently when Grandpa was over for dinner, Cassius walked through the room announcing, "I have to go to the bathroom." He stopped and raised a finger. "That's why they call me P. McGillicuddy!" he said importantly and walked on to the bathroom.

In any case, the boys had wonderful gifts from Mom and Maurice, too, and we ate a yummy dinner of lasagna I made in the Instant Pot. It didn't look as good as an oven baked one, but Maceo had three helpings and finished the rest the next lunch. And we had the Hanrahan traditional dessert: a bûche de Noël. Cassius liked that one, too.

BUCHE DE NOEL ALERT

Photo taken by Cassius.

On Friday, we went down to get the Tesla, and holy smokes, did they miss out on an opportunity for a great ad campaign (one which I think ideally finishes with them giving me a free car). Look at this photogenic little monkey and imagine the voice over that would tear at your heartstrings!

Checking in to the showroom.

The proud new "owner."

This chauffeur is hoping my clients leave the car spotless.

We took the car and went to get Dad and Susan to see the Christmas lights at a nearby state park where one drives along for about 30 minutes slowly watching scenes and animals and Christmas themed displays from the windows of a brand new Tesla. 

In the morning, we drove the car back to the dealer, and then we wandered on to the newly opened Natural History Museum to see the brand-new dinosaur fossils. They were impressive and it had been so long since we'd been there that Cassius had forgotten it. At 11:30, we left because we had Maceo's Christmas present from Santa--tickets to a Hoyas basketball game, a cheeseburger, and a soda! 

Pre-game, pre-lunch, low energy.

The King sits on his throne.

BURGER AND SODA!!!

On the metro ride home, they collaborated coloring
in the NFL book the Bigelows gave them. Very cute.

It was the first big time basketball game Maceo had been to, and he was not looking forward to it. I was disappointed about that, but once there, he had an outstanding time--he even caught a t shirt fired into the crowd! (Actually, an usher caught it and looked for someone to throw it to--I motioned at Maceo and he threw it over.) 

It's been a busy few days lately, and I am looking forward to some return to normal in the next few days so I can get a rest! 

GLOW!!!

 We went down to Georgetown, the chicest, most glamorous part of DC, to see the annual light sculpture installments. It was a little cold, and the boys would occasionally lose momentum, but then they'd soon regain it, and we ended up seeing all 11 installments!

This was one of my favorite pieces, in part because
it photographed so well!

This installment, called "Pandora's Box" featured a young up and coming super model. The artist was there, and there were Mandarin characters on the boxes, so I asked the boys if they had any questions for the artist. "No," they quietly murmured.

This installment was powered by super cute young bikers!

At one point, we weren't sure where the next installment was,
so Cassius sat down to check the map.

Clouds and swings!

This installation was called "Pom Poms", which seems about right.

There are two boys to be found in this photo.

An alley was the site for the installation called "Sno-Cones."

Hunters and Gatherers

The boys and I needed to get a Christmas tree, and they didn't have school this Friday, so I planned an outing to a farm where we could choose and cut our own tree. We drove out after stopping by the post office where we mailed letters to Santa.

Cassius has little interest in small talk with Santa

I can't rotate this photo, but there are some plot twists in this letter that are impressive.

Then it was a drive through the sun to a farm. We listened to Henry Huggins all the way there. Upon arrival, I took a saw in one hand, Cassius's cold little hand in my other hand, and Maceo pulled the hand cart out into the fields. We searched among the pines until we found a likely victim. Then, we (mostly me, but both boys tried) cut it down and did the ceremonial successful hunting dance Loewens have done for millenia.

Cassius dancing furiously.

You can't hear their victorious cries, but they were magnificent.

Ascending to the Throne of Victory

   

(Cassius jumped, too, but I messed up filming it. I'll leave it to your imaginations!)

We got home and two of the boys' buddies in the neighborhood walked over for a playdate.

Chaos ensued.

Festivities Continue

Holiday hijinks continue unabated! First, we were invited to a gingerbread house making party. It was quite the affair, as you can see from the construction table (there was more than one table!). And both boys and girls took part in the crafts section of the evening which I found impressive. Maceo was quite concentrated on the task at hand and designed and executed the whole plan!

Careful decision making in candy choices.

The manse is nearly completed.

You may notice that Cassius is not in the frame. That's because he spent the night playing football outside. It's a mania in these boys, I swear!

Another night, Maceo and I made dinner together. He had expressed interest in a recipe from one of our kids' cook books for Dinosaur Eggs. These are Scotch eggs, but we don't need to tell him!

He was also excited to take an egg for lunch to school to show his friends!

Another night, we hosted Mamy and Maurice. The boys helped to make the recipe that Cassius had chosen--gingerbread cookies. They are getting to be pretty expert cookie makers. Cassius even went searching for his cookie making tool that came a few months ago in his cooking kit he had a subscription to.

That's Cassius's little silicon measuring spoon in his hand
that "pops" the dough out onto the sheet.

I made Butter chicken and rice in the Instant Pot, a salad with Caesar dressing, and Maceo had multiple helpings of both! 

Cassius ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and apple sauce,
but you probably already knew that.

Christmastime in the City

Merry Christmas! (Cassius now hates being in a photo.
Get used to that motif.)

Last Saturday, the boys and I had a full day planned. First, we were going to go to City Center to do the ice maze. The information I saw ahead of time made it seem pretttttty awesome!

This looks pretty lovely, no?

This sounds pretty lovely, no?

I thought we'd spend a half an hour or so working our way through a pretty cool experience. Instead, the maze was about 20 by 30, under a tent, and took all of 8 minutes.

That's the somewhat underwhelming ice wall behind us.

One couldn't even get lost in it because there were only 2 dead ends. Luckily, there was no line at all and we just walked in (We is Maceo, Cassius, my dad, and me).

He Who Will Not Be Photographed zips right through the maze.

So, then we were downtown with about 40 more minutes on the parking meter and nothing to do! We walked around City Center, window shopping at the fancy stores

I'm a firm believer that Maceo should be a model.

until we arrived at.........Tesla! Ooooo, the boys were excited! We wandered in and Dad and the boys instantly got in a vehicle to try out moving the seats, opening and closing the power doors, and just nosing about.

"Don't bother me, Daddy, I'm working on my Tesla."

Maceo intrudes during the sales spiel to Grandpa.

It was a good time, and to help get them involved and to practice things like writing their names and memorizing their addresses and my phone number, I had them fill out forms for a Tesla raffle. Cassius especially took this quite seriously.

Well, guess who won the raffle. 

Here's the text I received:

Hi Cassius! This is Julian From Tesla DC City Center! I wanted to let you know that you won our raffle for an overnight with a Tesla! You can reach back to me here or at 202-XXX-XXXX!

They are going to pee their pants. But don't tell them because I have the text printed out and I'm putting it in a Christmas card as a present!

We'll be the proud possessors of a Tesla from 5:30 pm to 9 the next morning! I can't wait to see how excited they are. 

The rest of that fateful Saturday, we were going to spend at the "theatah" (that's the "theater" for you hoi polloi). I had wrangled free tickets to go see "The Snow Queen" at a cool theater across the river in Crystal City. Through the website, I had purchased three seats right in the middle of the theater for, once I clicked through to my cart, the nice round number of $0! "Well!" I thought. "Perhaps it's a free matinée or it's the understudies or something. Free! Nice!" I got a follow up email from the theater telling me to be on time or I might not be seated, that the performance lasted 70 minutes, and that there would be fun activities before the show in the lobby so get there early for snacks, crafts, and story time! "Great," I thought.

I think you know something bad was going to happen.

Well, it turns out that I had "bought" the free tickets to story time and crafts, and the show actually costs $19.50 a ticket, but the ticket service had sent out the typical stock email they sent to all purchasers regardless of if I had bought the free activities tickets or the play tickets and so we were out of luck. And we were sad.

Oreos helped dull the pain of no tickets to "The Snow Queen."

So, we headed home. During the boys' quiet time, I sent an admonishing but thoroughly polite email to the theater, and within thirty minutes, they responded with an apology and three complimentary tickets! So, we're heading back out there next Saturday to see the show!

The weekend had started out so promisingly, but then it had faltered. Now, it's been one of the most awesome weekends in recent memories and set the stage for some amazing memories to come! Keep your eyes on this website for Tesla pictures, small boys' reviews of a classic play, and anything else we can think to do over the holidays! 

COOKIES!

Later on Black Friday, after a nap, the boys and I decided to bake some holiday cookies to share with out neighbors. This time, we chose a recipe that could accommodate all our different cookie forms and shapes. I just read the instructions and the boys got to work!

There was a bit of tasting going on at this stage, which is what all chefs do, right?

Cassius approves of the recipe.

All good parents know the importance of spacing in the kitchen.
Here both boys cut out their own cookies to go on their own sheet.

CAREFULLY adding frosting once the cookies had cooled off sufficiently.

Anticipation makes them taste that much better!

Black Friday!

The day after thanksgiving, the boys and I decided we had a lot to do. First, we went to the Van Ness neighborhood of DC for a hike in Rock Creek Park.

They lagged behind as they searched for quartz crystals.

There were at least three creek crossings on this trail.

Masters of all they survey.

A quick pose from the supermodels.

The crystal haul!

There may have been more than three crossings, but at the third, Cassius slipped and his boots filled with water. He was not pleased. I commiserated, as it was quite cold out to be wet, so we headed to a nearby bakery for warmth, bread, and snacks.

We packed our snacks and shared a doughnut.

Cassius was feeling better by now! Yay, doughnuts!

Then, we went to participate in Black Friday. My computer had died and couldn't be resuscitated, so the boys and I went to the Mac store. I went off to get a mini Mac, and the boys found the "Living Room", nicely furnished in my fave mid-century styles, where they could play ipad games.