Dec
28
2013
White Christmas
With Santa’s cookies, and celery for the reindeer
Christmas morning, before the chaos
Opening a gift from Sam
An even better gift from Sam: Christmas hug
The kids each bought each other the same thing from the Santa shop: a rubber ducky eraser
Avery opening a Santa gift: a My Little Pony activity kit
Avery excited about her journal, which she now has deemed her “diary” and will correct you if you get it wrong
Sam loves these books
Avery and Mom, a Christmas morning selfie
One of my favorite books, from Bruce
Bruce getting a book from his wishlist: REDSHIRTS
Avery got a Barbie car
THE AFTERMATH
Dec
28
2013
Avery with her new doll clothes trunk
Me with a new purse cover
Avery’s new fancy pants
Lucky gets a present, too, as the grand-dog
Sam opening up
Bruce got a Jimmy John’s gift card. Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?
Dad and his Spartan hat. It’s reversible!
Sam with his Beyblades is one happy kid
We got a silly game called “Fibber” and when you get busted fibbing you have to wear a long nose
I think Avery looks so pretty here, fixing her doll’s hair in her new doll salon chair
Dec
28
2013
Despite a drive that was a bit harrowing on the way there (ice storm) and dire weather predictions for our Sunday drive back (SNOWPOCALYPSE) that didn’t materialize, luckily, we had a great time in Cadillac.
Getting ready to watch Polar Express
Pillows, pajamas, and Polar Express.
Present opening
Thank-you hug for Papa
Caught in the middle of jumping for joy
Avery doing her window art craft
Goofy picture of Aunt and Niece
Nice picture of aunt and niece
Kids doing their silly pose by the tree
Convinced them to pose for two seconds! What great kids we have.
Dec
02
2013
His actual day, with birthday brownies
Ecstatic about Super Smash Bros for Wii, mimicking his pose in the picture behind him from his 9th birthday
A (sadly fuzzy) photo of his two birthday sleepover friends, Brennan and Tyler
Nice smile from the birthday boy
Twelve pictures of birthdays (including his actual birth day)
Nov
23
2013
A family Thanksgiving filled with Johnsons, Gildes and Ringstroms, in Manton.
Mmmmm, turkey….
Three six year old cousins (second cousins or something like that, but close enough! Cute as can be, either way)
Judy and Larry
Sam being a goof with his crazy hair and balloons
Oct
12
2013
Everyone in Kent County had the same idea on this summerlike Saturday…. Hayride, cider and donuts, corn maze…
Sep
29
2013
Had a quick trip to Los Angeles for work (event with booksellers) and squeezed in some sightseeing. Silly me forgot to put on sunscreen, for a tour on the top of a double-decker open air bus. D’oh.
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Courtyard outside my hotel
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The Walt Disney Concert Hall, where I hopped on the tour bus
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Tour bus selfie
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Chinatown
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Chinatown
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Union Station and pretty trees
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This is some government building but stood in for the villain’s HQ in the kid’s movie G-Force
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The famous and fancy Biltmore
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This corncob looking building was blown up in Independence Day
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The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture, debuted here in ’29
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The convention center. The climactic scenes of the Jackie Chan movie Rush Hour were filmed here
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Obligatory picture of the Hollywood sign
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I have the same size hands as Elizabeth Taylor
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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s feet are, not surprisingly, very big
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Bruce Willis’s feet are surprisingly not that big
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Took this one in honor of my late mother-in-law, who was a Trekkie
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I have the same shoe size as Meryl Streep. I love this, but I’m not sure why.
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Took this in honor of my mom, who always had a crush on Christopher Reeve
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The famed Chinese Theater in Hollywood
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Met a writer friend, Katie, whom I’ve known for five years through email but we’d never met!
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So cute. You’d think I’d been gone three weeks instead of three days! I’ll take it, though.
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Avery insisted on carrying my suitcase at the airport
Sep
22
2013
It was a brisk day but fun!
An interactive light show piece at McFadden’s
Avery coloring with an artist and lots of other kids. At the BOB
This appeared to be made of spoons and knives
This cool dragon sculpture that kids could climb into (but not easily out of)
This cool dragon was called “Steam Baby” and people could crank it to make steam come out
Art Prize logo on the glass at Peppino’s downtown where we ate dinner
Sep
21
2013
The kids went to a birthday party tonight. Took a picture of Sam and one of his friends, and the birthday girl photobombed them.
