heckling for independence

This year on the Fourth the kids heckled the fireworks, shouting at them to be bigger and louder until they were, and then they ran away and danced in the smoke.

I sat on a bench with my foot wrapped with ice in an ace bandage; it was itchy and doubled in size from when I stepped on a bee when leaving the beach two days before.

We lit the sparklers in anticipation of dusk. After the sun went down the adults wore hooded sweatshirts but the kids that were sitting preferred being snuggled in blankets to stay warm, and who can blame them.

At the end of the night Lucy pronounced herself "Dance Dodge Champion of the World." Four days later she is still blinking to get all that smoke out of her eyes.

a pretty grim egg hunt

el dia de los muertos

This year Lucy's Halloween enthusiasm began in August, two full months ahead of the holiday and at the tail end of a long pregnancy.

So, we mixed it up a bit by learning about the Mexican traditions around Day of the Dead, and decided to celebrate that on November 1 with a visit to the grave of my grandparents, Nellie Lucille and Eugene. Lucy wanted a full-on picnic at the grave but the ground was soggy from all the Halloween rain, so we sat on a nearby bench to tell stories about them instead.

halloween

At dinner Ilona reminded us that we have been doing our Halloween dinner and trick-or-treat together for the last 5 years, ever since we have had children old enough to trick-or-treat. This is one of the many reasons why we can never move, though of course we will clearly have to move as our house with five people is already starting to feel cramped.

Here was Halloween this year, before we ventured out to trick-or-treat in the pouring rain:

the day before today

Christmas came, long awaited, and we handled it well.

I took very few pictures:

The festivities were pretty well-paced, which meant time to play with toys and cousins in between the opening of presents, and pink pancakes for breakfast, and 3 kinds of meat for dinner. Also, brussels sprouts deep-fried at a temperature several degrees to hot. But still, using the hot oil after the turkey is out opens up a world of holiday-eating possibilities. So, next year.

When I tucked her in last night, Lucy said:

"I think we should celebrate a little bit tomorrow, because the day before tomorrow is Christmas."

So true.

friday cute shot

so this is Christmas

zoolightin'