The One With the Happy New Year's Eve

Today is New Year's Eve 2019. It is great to look back at 2019 and see what it brought us:


• Trip to Disney World

• Emmie got to teach her dream grade

• Bri played field hockey and made cast in her play

• Kiff won another Flag Football championship

• We got to spend night in Boston in May!

• We went to North Conway, Newport, and Sturbridge


2019 was a fabulous year

The One With Our Christmas Week

We had a very busy - but fun - Christmas week. Here's a look at what we did:


December 23: Christmas with Dad's family

December 24: Christmas breakfast with Nani; Christmas Children's Service

December 25: Brunch; Christmas gifts; Dinner with Nanny and Grandpa

December 26: Emmie out for Dinner with her family; Kiff and Bri went to dinner with Dad; Nani xray

December 27: Kiff day with Dad and saw Spies in Disguise; Bri day with mom and saw Little Women

December 28: Christmas with Emmie's family

December 29: Star Wars 9 Movie Day

December 30: Snow-sleet-freezing rain day with Irish Stew.

It was busy!!!

The One With the Christmas Movie List

Here is a list of the Christmas movies and specials we watched this year:

Christmas Vacation (11/28)
Fred Claus (12/2)
Cartoon Grinch Stole Christmas (11/29)
White Christmas (11/23)
Miracle on 34th Street (new one)
The Christmas Story (11/24)
Muppet Christmas Carol (12/2)
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (12/2)
Christmas in Connecticut (first time we saw that...very cute)
It's a Wonderful Life
Charlie Brown Christmas
Twas the Night before Christmas (mouse version).

The One with the Rise of Skywalker

Two days ago, we saw the Rise of Skywalker. This is the culmination of the recent three sequel trilogy to the original Star Wars.

It is being billed as the end of the Skywalker saga (which is hard to believe because it has endured for 42 years). However, at the end, it made it readily apparent that the Skywalker saga was clearly ready to continue whenever Lucasfilm might decide to extend the series.

It was a fitting last film in the installment. It definitely tried to do a lot to wrap it up - a far cry from Revenge of the Sith, or Return of the Jedi. But, it worked on many levels and was exciting in its own right.

It was also great to see Lando Calrissian back.


Do I think it will be the last Star Wars movie? Never...but it wouldn't surprise me if it takes a few years for a new trilogy to be presented. Besides, how many times can the Dark Side keep gaining the upper hand over the Force!

The One With Our Favorite Christmas Shows

Today, at our Christmas Brunch, we listed our favorite Christmas movie and special. Here's how it turned out.

Emmie:
Special - Twas the Night Before Christmas (mouse version)
Movie - Muppet Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life

 
Kiff:

Special - Monkey Christmas
Movie - Bad Mom's Christmas


Bri:
Special -  Mickey Christmas Carol
Movie - Home Alone


Dad:
Movie - Christmas Story
Special -
1. Charlie Brown Christmas
2. Yogi Bear Christmas
3. Mr. Magoo Christmas Carol
4. Mickey's Christmas Carol
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
6. Twas the Night Before Christmas (mouse version)
7. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

The One With The Merry Christmas

Christmas 2019 arrived....it is 12:43, the kids opened all their presents and we are watching the Celtics!


Ahhhhh, Merry Christmas

The One with Our Christmas Activities Over Time

I was trying to brainstorm over the years the many different Christmas activities we've done as a family. So I decided to archive them.

Here's what I got so far:

1. Santa by the Sea (Danvers event) -  multiple times.
2. Danvers Tree Lighting - nearly every year.
3. Edaville - about three times.
4. Santa's Village - once at Christmas time...it snowed.
5. Enchanted Village - many times
6. Polar Express at Museum of Science
7. Seeing the Man Who Invented Christmas
8. Salem Christms Carol Trolley
9. Salem Grinch Who Stole Christmas play
10. Christmas Carol (at Hanover Theater)
11. Nutcracker in Boston - several times
12. Christmas Open House Danvers Library
13. Sturbridge Village Christmas by Candlelight
14.  Christmas at the Newport Mansions - twice

 

The One With the Christmas Carol

Last night, Emmie, Bri, Kiff, and I had the opportunity to attend the Christmas Carol at the Hanover Theater.

We haven't been in a few years, but always look forward to it. And it did not disappoint. The show is an absolute treasure. We've actually watched the show when it was run at the Stoneham Theater many years ago. Although the show moved to the Hanover in 2008, the original charm, character, and beauty of the show continues to this day.

The mixture of Victorian carols with narration and acting is the perfect blend. The show is truly heartwarming and the perfect way to ring in Christmas week. The sets are lush and lavish, opening up like small books, which is fun. Along with that, it literally snows from the ceiling.

Even neater is that they have a Mighty Wurlitzer organ which plays much of the music during the show. In honor of the end of the Skywalker Saga, they played the Star Wars theme as we left the  building. What a great touch!!!

This is a show everyone should see.

The One With Kiff's Basketball Game

Kiff had his second basketball game of the winter season. So far, so good.

This season has been more competitive than the last, which is fun. It also involves an older age bracket, which adds to the challenge.

Still, Kiff played a good game yesterday. He scored a basket, got a steal, and played solid defense. His team won by four points.

The only drawback is he had his earrings on and had to take them out during the game. Always fun.

Here's looking forward to next week's game.

The One With The First Week of December

The first week of December is always an event, as we get ready for Christmas.

Here is what this week brought:

2 snow days
1 Christmas Tree Up
1 Charlie Brown Christmas special (always fun to watch)
1 First meeting of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for Bri
1 Cub Scout meeting where Kiff and crew built a game using Scratch.mit
1 Viewing of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer where we laughed at how politically incorrect it is now
1 Half day for Bri, Kiff, and Dad
1 Viewing of It's a Wonderful Life
1 Big Celtics win vs. the Nuggets last night
1 Bruins winning streak coming to an end in overtime.

WOW!