i keep a diary

December 24, 2010

Family Xmas Blizzard

The day before Christmas, Meredith and I headed down to New Jersey to spend the holidays with my family.

Friday, December 24th

maddy, meredith
Headed to Penn Station. Maddy really likes looking out the window any time she's in a moving vehicle.
taxi ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
me
All dressed up and ready to get my holiday on.
taxi ˆ me
Train ride sunset.
sunset ˆ train
aunt ann, uncle walt
After dropping the dogs off at my parents' house we headed over to my great aunt and uncles house! Their grandkids are still younger so it's fun go get to see them get their presents!
gift ˆ xmas ˆ aunt ann ˆ uncle walt
amy b, brett
Amy and Brett.
amy b ˆ brett
amy b, meredith
So many holiday treats.
amy b ˆ meredith
dad
Big Bri surveying the treat table, planning the assault.
dad
Aerial view of enemy territory.
cookie ˆ pie ˆ treats ˆ xmas
me, mom
Definitely related.
me ˆ mom
The much less exciting round of adult gift-opening.
family ˆ xmas
Speaking of family resemblances, Ann & Walt have a few older photographs from my dad's side of the family hanging on the wall. I remember laughing so hard when I took this photo because if you look closely, the woman sitting on the man's lap looks like my dad in a bonnet! Haha.
meta ˆ nostalgia
hank battjer
My grandfather, Hank Battjer, with his father Henry and grandfather Diedrich. I'm guessing this was taken after Hank had enlisted as a pilot but before he left for the Pacific.
family ˆ meta ˆ nostalgia ˆ hank battjer
Illin' shorties.
nostalgia
mom
Back at the homestead my mom was excited to show off the tree she'd decorated!
xmas ˆ xmas tree ˆ mom
maddy, teddy
And Ted was excited to chase Maddy around the living room while making honking noises.
xmas tree ˆ maddy ˆ teddy
amy b
We put on 24 hours of A Christmas Story.
tv ˆ xmas ˆ amy b
maddy
Loves being chased.
action shot ˆ maddy
teddy
Loves chasing.
action shot ˆ teddy
maddy, teddy
How chasing ends.
bite ˆ maddy ˆ teddy

Saturday, December 25th

brett, me
Speaking of a Christmas story, the next morning my brother and I opened presents from our mother to find matching sweaters! And it turned out...
gift ˆ sweater ˆ twins ˆ xmas ˆ brett ˆ me
brett, dad, me
...that my dad got one as well! Hahah.
gift ˆ sweater ˆ twins ˆ xmas ˆ brett ˆ dad ˆ me
me, meredith
Merry Christmas!
kitchen ˆ me ˆ meredith
Time to check out the stockings!
stockings
Treat inventory.
stockings ˆ treats
And of course there were some lottery scratchers!
scratchers ˆ xmas tree
meredith
Meredith scratching her scratchers.
xmas ˆ meredith
brett, meredith
What other things were in the stocking?
excited ˆ stockings ˆ xmas ˆ brett ˆ meredith
brett
Assorted hot chocolate flavors.
gift ˆ xmas ˆ brett
brett
And some multi-colored chip-clips. Score!
gift ˆ xmas ˆ brett
maddy
Maddy got some new toys she was excited to play tug of war with (and then obsessively chew them to destruction in all of 10 minutes).
bite ˆ maddy
mom
Mom about to open Meredith's homemade holiday cookies!
gift ˆ xmas ˆ mom
My brother gave me this Glengary-inspired mug from his work. Haha.
gift ˆ xmas
dad
My dad knows what time it is.
gift ˆ dad
me
Hot chocolate mixes for me!
gift ˆ xmas ˆ me
teddy
Teddy had a friction burn on his paw from too much high-speed cornering on the carpet and we had to fashion a makeshift bandage for him. Haha.
teddy
amy b, maddy, teddy
After we'd finished our gift extravaganza, it was time to walk the hounds.
walking ˆ amy b ˆ maddy ˆ teddy
I like when things are...
...clearly, and imaginatively labeled.
sign ˆ wtf
My mom got Maddy a box of holiday dog biscuits! After she read the list of ingredients...
cookie
mom
...she said "These are made out of almost the same stuff as people cookies." and started to eat one. Haha.
cookie ˆ mom
mom
Yup, trying a different one.
cookie ˆ mom
maddy
Maddy liked them also.
maddy
brett, dad, me
Around 4pm we all got cleaned up for company and even humored my mom and put on the matching sweaters!
best ˆ family ˆ sweater ˆ twins ˆ xmas ˆ brett ˆ dad ˆ me
dad
We warmed up for some dinner by playing Wii Golf.
videogames ˆ wii ˆ xmas tree ˆ dad
amy b, brett, dad, maddy, me, meredith, mom, teddy
Pre-dinner holiday photo for my dad's holiday newsletter!
family ˆ xmas ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ dad ˆ maddy ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ mom ˆ teddy
Almost time to eat! Yes!
food ˆ xmas
amy b, maddy, meredith
Meredith and Amy kept Maddy company out of the kitchen and away from..
amy b ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
dad
...the irresistible smell of turkey being carved.
kitchen ˆ turkey ˆ xmas ˆ dad
grandma
Grandma brought us a each a bottle of Hot Sex liquor as a gag gift. (It is seriously pretty tasty though) Haha.
best ˆ booze ˆ wtf ˆ grandma
dad
After dinner we played more Wii Golf. (This time in matching sweaters).
golf ˆ videogames ˆ dad
maddy
Meredith cozied up with this one and played fruit slicing games on the iPad.
ipad ˆ videogames ˆ maddy
Why choose?
treats

Sunday, December 26th

amy b, brett, dad, meredith, mom
Post Christmas breakfast! The weather forecast was calling for heavy snow and by the time we'd finished eating...
breakfast ˆ kitchen ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ dad ˆ meredith ˆ mom
...snow had already started accumulating! Time to pack your things!
snow
dad
This guy's always there to make sure you get off safely and that you...
dad
...have some tasty snacks in your pocket for later (JIC).
treats
dad, mom
Love you guys! We're...
snow ˆ dad ˆ mom
...off into the BLIZZARD!
driving ˆ snow ˆ suburbs
brett
Brett showing off his fluffy holiday hair.
brett
amy b, maddy, teddy
Amy juggled stacked wieners in the backseat!
amy b ˆ maddy ˆ teddy
Whose idea was it to put the triangle over the N when the A is right there?
driving ˆ holland tunnel ˆ wtf
amy b, brett, meredith
After getting parked and unpacked, we ordered pickup from Wacky Wok (which Brett paid for with $40 he found sitting in the ATM cash tray at the restaurant! Score!)
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ meredith
brett
After dinner, we walked over to Video Games New York so Brett and I could buy each other belated gifts! And also so we could..
excited ˆ videogames ˆ brett
...wax nostalgic about all the old Sega Master System games we remembered playing together from our childhood!
videogames
After Phantasy Star, this was the second RPG that either of had played!
videogames
Stopped at the doomsday bodega on the way home for some snacks.
newspaper
amy b, brett
Back at the apartment, we dragged out all the gear so that we could play the new game (Rock Band 3) that Brett had just given me! It turns my drum set was broken...
rockband ˆ videogames ˆ amy b ˆ brett
...so at 7pm we decided to head back out into the storm and walk up to GameStop on 1st Ave & 18th.
snow
When we got outside it was snowing SO HARD!
snow ˆ walking
Here's a photo with a flash.
snow ˆ walking
brett, me
Brett improvised and used his sunglasses as goggles. Haha
snow ˆ sunglasses ˆ walking ˆ brett ˆ me
brett
Despite his eye protection,Brett's eyebrows had significant accumulation by the time we'd made it over to 1st & 18th.
eyebrows ˆ brett
brett
Selection made!
shopping ˆ videogames ˆ brett
meredith
We came back home, took the wieners for a quick walk...
snow ˆ meredith
amy b, brett, meredith
...then began the cooperative drum-set assembly process. Let's hear it for teamwork! (We ended up playing A LOT of Rock Band that night).
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ rockband ˆ videogames ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ meredith

Monday, December 27th

On Monday morning, we awoke to about a foot of snow! Almost 11am and they hadn't even plowed the cross streets yet.
e9th apt ˆ snow
teddy
Low-clearance dogs don't like snow.
teddy
maddy
The rare glove-horned reindeer!
maddy
meredith
We decided to head out and get some grub! See how deep the snow was?
snow ˆ meredith
amy b, brett
Near the road it was piled up waist deep!
snow ˆ amy b ˆ brett
Conspiratorial roosting.
bird
Abandoned, skidded-out bus stranded at 9th & A.
bus ˆ snow
meredith
TO ODESSA!
run ˆ snow ˆ meredith
It is by far our favorite...
odessa
meredith
...Eastern European establishment.
best ˆ diner ˆ fur hat ˆ hat ˆ odessa ˆ pretty ˆ meredith
amy b, brett, emily b
Amy's sister Emily joined us and we ordered us a BREAKFAST FEAST! Check out the spread!
brunch ˆ diner ˆ food ˆ odessa ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ emily b
On the walk home we noticed they'd enlisted bulldozers to help dig things out!
snow
Headed back to our place...
snow
...for a snowbound hang.
shoes
brett, meredith, teddy
Houndstooth.
brett ˆ meredith ˆ teddy

Tuesday, December 28th

brett
On Tuesday morning, we got coffee and then borrowed a shovel from our super-nice neighbors so Brett could dig the car out!
shovel ˆ snow ˆ brett
amy b, teddy
All dug out and headed home! It was great to have you guys, Merry Christmas!
car ˆ amy b ˆ teddy