Christmas Trip 1 -- 2011

	We headed up to New Jersey December 22nd for an early Christmas and chance to meet Sam, Robert's newest cousin. He, his mom Lynn and David Z. are on the east coast for Christmas and splitting their time between NJ and Northern Virginia, where Lynn's family lives. Robert and Sam it it off really well. Sam had his mom's iPad and Robert had his mom's Kindle Fire -- it seemed very comparable to me.
Of course Ian being there was a big draw for Robert (and Sam). Sarah loves checking in on him as well -- Columbia seems to be treating him fine. We dispensed with all pretext of saving presents for the actual day of Christmas (I'm losing that fight because of the practicalities of far flung families), and unwrapped a few gifts.



	For the record, there are still presents under the tree to be opened on the 25th.
As the adults descended into conversation, Robert contributed his haul of Legos to the festivities and he and Sam played for a while in the basement. Eventually, Ian's presence was requested and graciously granted and received.

	While we were catching up, we were also checking out the new electronics: Elle got a Kindle Touch and Harry got a new Fire (Sarah and I couldn't wait and ended up with Fires for our anniversary). Fortunately, we had David Z. there for tech support on all things Amazon.
The kids, of course, were not banished to the basement for long and came back up to try their hands at Plants versus Zombies on Sarah's Fire.
	After a lovely goose dinner (thank you Harry, Elle, David and Ian), the kids retired to watch Wallace on Gromit on Ian's laptop -- that was easier than getting the DVD working on the upstairs TV. (As an aside, I really like my new camera and it's even better low light abilities -- this was just the light of the screen.)
Sam and Lynn hopped on the train down to Northern Virginia while we stayed to visit a bit longer and check out Harry and Elle's new house (moving date after the last snowfall). Robert and Ian had a bit more time to hang out, this time with Robert's TechDecks. See: Christmas preparations and Christmas as well.
Vacation notes: Southern Swing (July 1999) Skookumchuck (July 2000) Marsha and Bob's wedding (September 2000) Tybee Island (October 2000) Oaxaca, Mexico (February 2001) Steve Hanna and Sarah Dewes Wedding (May 2001) Dan Henry and Jill Rhodes Wedding (July 2001) Ohiopyle Falls Race (September 2001) Grand Cayman Diving (December 2001) Bob Martindale's 50^th (March 2002) Christmas in New Jersey (2001) Dinner with Chris Washburn (January 2002) Obed River (April 2002) New Zealand (December 2002) Seattle for David Z's birthday (August 2003) Isabel comes a calling (September 2003) Fall on the Potomac (October 2003) Christmas visits (December 2003) Thanksgiving at the Beach (November 2004 -- in Robert's section) Robert's Baptism (April 2005, in Robert's section) Tuscany (June/July 2005) Tybee Island (September 2005) Maine (July 2006) Costa Rica (January 2007) Boone for the 80^th Birtday Party (May 2007) Seven Devils (July 2007) Brooklin, Maine (August 2007) Jersey Shore (September 2007 -- in Robert's section) Thanksgiving in Seven Devils (November 2007) Tweetsie Railroad (May 2008 -- in Robert's section) South Florida (May 2008 -- in Robert's section) Seattle (November 2008) North Carolina (December 2008) Winkler Botanical Preserve (August 2009) New Jersey Beach (September 2009) Thanksgiving 2009 December 2009 Christmas 2009 Assateague Island Camping (July 2010) New Jersey Shore (September 2010) Thanksgiving (November 2010) Christmas 2010 (December 2010) Spring Break (March 2011) Class Trip (May 2011) Assateaque Island (July 2011) Atlanta (July 2011) T & T Wedding (September 2011) Thanksgiving in New Jersey (November 2011) Christmas Trip 1 (December 2011) Christmas Trip 2 (December 2011) Skiing (February 2012) Spring Break (March 2012) Sailabration (June 2012) Assateaque Island (July 2012) Out West for Hubbard - Zapolsky Wedding (August 2012) Thanksgiving (November 2012) Christmas (December 2012) Colorado River and Grand Canyon (July 2013) Thanksgiving in Atlanta (November 2013) Martha's photo album extract Philadelphia (March 2014) Spring Break at Great Wolf Lodge (March 2014) Assateague (July 2014) Ropes Course (July 2014) Statue of Liberty (August 2014) Masonville Cove and Skipjack Sigsbee (September 2014) Marco Island, Florida (November 2014) Christmas in Decatur (December 2014) Spring Break in Decatur (March 2015) Ian's Senior Concert (May 2015) Assateague Island (July 2015) Outer Banks (September 2015) National Aquarium Sleepover (November 2015) Christmas in Decatur (December 2015) Memorial Service at St. Luke's (January 2016) Spring Break on the East Coast (March 2016) Great Britain (June 2016) Potomac: Anglers to Lock 10 (October 2016) Grand Cayman (December 2016) Space Camp — Spring Break (March 2017) Salmon River Trip (July 2017) Diving in Belize (October 2017) Fun House at the Building Museum (July 2018) Grayson Highlands (August 2018) Bonaire (Labor Day 2018) Christmast at home (December 2018) Iceland (April 2019) Williams - Itrich Wedding (May 2019) Assateague Island (July 2019) Great Britain Redux (July 2019) Christmas in Decatur (December 2019) Maine Kayaking (August 2020) Christmas at home (December 2020) Hagerstown Speedway (May 2021) Summer Break (July 2021) Pittsburgh (August 2021) Seattle (October 2021) Ocracoke Thanksgiving (November 2021) Seattle Christmas (December 2021) Spring Break in Bonaire (April 2022) Educational Achivement (June 2022) Western Wedding Redo (June 2022) Ian and Sophie's Wedding (June 2022) UW Move in and Olympic Peninsula (August 2022) Alexandria Raceway :) (October 2022) Christmas in Decatur (December 2022) Quick Visit to Seattle (February 2023) Quick NY trip (May 2023) Seattle Fall Visit (September 2023) Christmas Staycation (December 2023) Seattle Spring Break (March 2024) Home \| Personal \| Professional \| News and Updates \| Robert \| Vacations \| Genealogy \| Search

Christmas Trip 1 -- 2011

Vacation notes: