Christmas 2020

With the coronavirus infections continuing to go up (though the vacine is starting to get distributed), we stayed home for a socially distant Christmas (as we did for Thanksgiving). Normally, I would add a bit of a traveloge here with notes from our Christmas travels, but...

This year, I posted most of that I would say to the blog first, so here are those blog entries. (The link towards the bottom of the blog for the Full Blog Archive makes this easy — sort of.)

December 7, 2020 22:29
A Little Early



The tree is up.

The kitties have sniffed (but not yet held still long enough for a picture).

The decorations are on.

And the Christmas train is set up and running on it's track.

We even have a couple presents under the tree, and might see a couple more over the next 15 days or so.

Now will we have the patience to wait for Christmas morning, that's the real question.

There is no question that we will be missing seeing family over the holidays. But the news of the vaccine is sounding pretty good, maybe that's the Christmas present for the world this year.



December 25, 2020 11:52
When all through the house …



… there was a creature stirring.

But not a mouse.

Panzer waiting to see what Santa might bring.

The kitties were patient and we don't think they like cookies, so Santa should have gotten his little snack.

 



December 25, 2020 11:58
Christmas morning!!!



Robert didn't sleep in too late.

And with coffee and tea fortification, we started the great unwrapping.

We had a zoom chat with the Williams clan last night, but it's not at all the same as being there.

And we missed the Zapolsky clan around Thanksgiving. Definitely a different kind of year.




But, we had a lovely, morning this morning.

Tee shirts and sweaters…

Legos…

Cheese and charcuterie — and a lovely cheese board.

I don't think Panzer stayed under the tree the whole night, but who knows?



December 25, 2020 13:2
Even a bit of snow!



Conversational, but snow none the less!

(And yesterday's high was 60 degrees.)

Sarah got the prize for largest box this year (5MB gif).

You'll have to ask her what was carefully packed inside.



Robert got a pretty big box too!!!

We'll see how long this keeps him busy.

Just in case, we added a couple leaves to the table so we can still eat there if he's not finished with Mos Eisley by dinner time.

Interesting for this Lego set, there are multiple bags with the same number. While 18 was the largest number, there are closer to 30 bags of pieces to put together.



December 26, 2020 11:5
The work starts…



After a break to relax and munch on something…

…Robert started building Mos Eisley.

It's a pretty cool set; lots of detail, lots of guys.

And, as Robert noted, lots of cool play potential after it's built.



Of course, that means building it comes first.

Or at least enough to have a scene to play in.

You'll maybe notice as time passes, the change in light out the window.

It tool a while to put together.



December 26, 2020 11:12
Interruption



Of course, Robert was not the only one working…

…Sarah was cooking this lovely goose, the highlight of a spectacular Christmas dinner.

And that called for a break the construction.

Which gave Robert time to stretch and set the table.



It really was lovely.

And made me wonder why Thanksgiving and Christmas come so close together?

Another fabulous meal.

Another full tummy.



And note the partial construction in the background…

We're looking forward to friends taking the place of Mos Eisley now that we have a slightly larger table.

December 26, 2020 11:19
Construction resumes



Robert was back at it after dinner.

His parents were nice enough to clean up while he was building.

And Sarah popped the chocolate molten lava cakes into the oven.

Robert was sure to need a bit more sustenance to finish up.

 



It was really taking shape by now.

And clearly it was going to be very cool when completed.

And Robert was really focused on finishing it in one day.

One, long, long day…

 



December 26, 2020 11:24
Done!!!



Notice how dark it is outside.

We thought we might watch Wonder Woman after dinner.

But Mos Eisley took a good, long time to build.

Let's see if Robert comments on the hours invested.

 



It does look really cool.

And will be in Robert's collection for a long time.

He even added some extra storm troopers to help out on patrols.

Serious parental win on getting this before they sold out — Thank You SZap!

 



Vacation notes: