Ready for more festive family fun? We’ve been strolling the streets of Old Town, checking out the lights, a few times each week – and I’m completely delighted by them every time. When Steve and I lived here before kids, one of our beloved traditions was a walk through Old Town to check out the décor – the houses there really go all out, but in a super-classy way. We’ve loved being right in the neighborhood this year, and getting to spend the entire month surrounded by all the Christmas joy.
Teddy Bear Tea at Mount Vernon
Another activity I planned – and couldn’t wait for – was a “Teddy Bear Tea Party with Lady Washington” at Mount Vernon. I knew that it would be exactly the sort of thing that Peanut would LOVE, so I snatched up a ticket for her as soon as I learned of the event. And on December 10th, we headed down the Parkway to Mount Vernon to enjoy a girls’ afternoon out!
The tea party was fabulous. I can’t say enough good things about the presentation! They had a seat at the table all ready for Peanut, and she was immediately presented with a plate of gingerbread and a cookie, and a green cup with hot cocoa. While the kids snacked, a musician played holiday tunes on a wooden recorder, and Martha Washington herself (!!!) spun tales and taught proverbs.
After snack and stories, Peanut (and Corduroy, her date to the Teddy Bear Tea) made a pomander ball with an orange and cloves provided by the staff (who had little kits made up in advance – so easy!).
To conclude the party, the kids were all herded into line to meet “Lady Washington” and get their pictures taken. Peanut was first in line and immediately scrambled up Martha’s wide skirts and perched on her lap. (Martha was a bit surprised but recovered quickly.) Peanut then proceeded to tell Martha that she would like a dollhouse for Christmas, while I almost passed out from laughing. She’s terrified of Santa and wouldn’t be caught dead sitting on his lap, but had no hesitation about jumping up onto Martha’s! (Considering last year, $25 bought me a picture of two crying kids and a creepy looking Santa, I thought that $5 for a snack, two crafts, stories, music and a picture of a happy little girl showing off her teddy to the mother of our country was a very good deal, indeed.)
The Secret Garden at the Shakespeare Theatre Company
We had more fun planned the following weekend! Peanut was sick with a stomach flu on Friday, and I got it on Sunday, but on Saturday we were in a sweet illness-free zone – perfect timing for the other fun holiday outing I planned for my girl! She and I slipped out of the house while Nugget napped and headed into D.C. for a performance of The Secret Garden musical at the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
I was beyond excited to introduce Peanut to the joys of live theatre! She was pretty pumped, too.
We had great seats in the first row of the mezzanine – a perfect view.
Peanut looked adorably serious studying the playbill! I’d been preparing her by telling her the story and reading her “Babylit” Secret Garden book, and she was excited to see the show. We had a fabulous time.
Christmas Trains at the U.S. Botanic Garden
Since Peanut had a special outing planned just for her on Saturday, Sunday was about Nugget. I couldn’t think of any holiday activity he’d enjoy more than seeing the Christmas trains at the Botanic Garden, so that’s where we went! And look who joined us – Nana was in town! She came down on Thursday evening to provide childcare in a pinch on Friday, and stayed a couple of days to spend time with us, enjoy some D.C. holiday cheer, and absorb all of our germs (sorry, Nana).
At the Botanic Garden, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the Christmas train exhibit was extra special this year – in celebration of the centennial of the National Park Service, the trains were wending their way through a specially prepared exhibit of national landmarks, parks and historic places made entirely out of plants – amazing!
Hello there, U.S. Supreme Court!
The regular train chugged along an elevated track running throughout a couple of the rooms of the greenhouse. So cool!
There was a major bottleneck by Arctic Brotherhood Hall. Can you spot the reason for the traffic jam? Hello there, Thomas!
Around the rooms, we spotted a few of our very favorite American places. Like Mount Vernon!
And the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse!
More places we hope to visit someday, like Mesa Verde. (The picture makes it hard to tell, but the train has the National Park Service logo on its side – cool.)
John Muir’s house! And one of Thomas’s friends.
It was an absolutely magical exhibit.
The kids both loved it, and they had a blast exploring every inch. The grownups loved it, too – the detail on each of the plant-based replica landmarks was absolutely astounding. I can’t even conceive of how much work must have gone into putting this exhibit together. It was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen.
The crowning glory was a massive Christmas tree, decorated with ornaments from all of the national parks, seashores, historic places and landmarks that were celebrated elsewhere in the exhibit (and more!). Can you spot the Hatteras Light? And another Thomas!
Christmas Weekend
Moving right along to the main event! I had a hectic week at work and was ready to party the following Saturday. Peanut had a special request for Christmas Eve morning – baking gingerbread cookies with Mom. So that’s exactly what we did!
I’m loving how grown up and fun she is lately. She’s finally really and truly out of the toddler stage, and we can do so many cool things together now.
She was really into stirring. The dough might have gotten just a tiny bit overworked. Oh, well!
I’m sorry to say our cookies were not very good, in the end. But we had fun making them, and that’s really all that counts!
After lunch on Christmas Eve, we headed down to the waterfront for one more classic Old Town Christmas activity – watching Santa waterskiing on the Potomac! In all the years I lived in D.C., I never made it to see the waterskiing Santa – crazy, because it’s one of the most beloved holiday events in the D.C. area!
The docks were packed with holiday revelers, waiting for the fun to begin! We didn’t have to wait long before the jetskiing elves zipped out of the marina, followed closely by the Grinch and his dog Max. And then it was time for the big guy!
Santa came out behind a speedboat and three of his reindeer, then peeled back into the marina, dropped off the reindeer and headed back for a solo lap.
The crowd went nuts! It was such a fun, silly, unique and quintessentially D.C. celebration. Another thing we’re going to have to repeat every year!
After nap, we got dolled up for the “festive family celebration” service at our church, during which Nugget shouted “FIRE TRUCK” repeatedly during the otherwise hushed and reverent lighting of the Advent candles. In an auditorium full of babies, it was inevitable that someone was going to shout “FIRE TRUCK,” so I guess he thought it might as well be him! We were basically weeping, we were laughing so hard. After church we headed back for a quiet evening at home, put the kids to bed, and then – Santa came!
The kids gave us a gift on Christmas morning and both slept until SEVEN O’CLOCK. Merry Christmas to Mom and Dad! We were two rested parents, ready to snap pictures and enjoy the day with them! Nugget’s gifts were mostly fire trucks and fire truck-adjacent – like this ride-on fire truck from his Aunt Jenn!
Peanut was spoiled as always – she received the dollhouse and stuffed pony she’d requested, plus lots of books, legos and dress-up clothes – including this Princess Anna ball gown, which is now the nicest article of clothing she owns.
We took it slowly, followed the kids’ lead, read books and played with toys as we opened them, and generally had a lovely day. We didn’t have anywhere to be, since we’d attended church on Christmas Eve. So we stayed in our pajamas and played under the Christmas tree all day, and it was awesome.
And there ends an epic two-part Christmas recap! If you’re still with me, high five! And now, onward to 2017. I’m READY.
Happy, joyful, merry everything to you, my friends! How did you celebrate this year?
Richard Madden as Godric Gryffindor – This was the MuggleCast suggestion, and I’m sticking with it because I think it’s perfect. And not just because Richard Madden is nice to look at (even though he is). I loved him as headstrong, swashbuckling Robb Stark in Game of Thrones (and secretly preferred Robb to Jon Snow even though I know that Jon Snow is everyone else’s favorite). I could see Richard Madden playing a Gryffindor who is very, very set on doing right by the wizarding community, but who gets a bit sidetracked and distracted by adventures from time to time, and who also digs in and refuses to consider other points of view. Perhaps that’s what leads to the famous break with Slytherin? I’d like to see how Madden would play that.
Michelle Dockery as Rowena Ravenclaw – This is the most important piece of casting, in my opinion. As a proud Ravenclaw, I would be very, very committed to getting the right actress to play the founder of my house, and I can’t think of anyone better than Michelle Dockery. Ravenclaws are known for being bookish and cerebral, and valuing logic and intellect almost above all else. Dockery’s cool demeanor makes her the perfect Ravenclaw from my standpoint. Plus, and this is key, she is LADY MARY YOU GUYS and OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LADY MARY.
Claire Foy as Helga Hufflepuff – I actually had a hard time dream-casting Hufflepuff. The ideal Hufflepuff is someone who can play kind, inclusive, warm and generous with a core of steel. My first thought went to Laura Carmichael, but I just couldn’t bring myself to dream-cast all Downton Abbey residents (keep reading) in every part except for Gryffindor, so I started thinking of other British actresses I like who might make a good Hufflepuff – and that was when I hit on the perfect name. I only recently became aware of Claire Foy after watching her completely steal the show as Anne Boleyn in the BBC production of Wolf Hall (which, if you haven’t seen it yet, RUN and buy the BluRay – it’s amazing). Now Steve and I are watching her dominate another cast as Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s The Crown. It’s hard to imagine two English queens more different than Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth II, but Claire Foy plays each of them perfectly and I seriously cannot get enough of her. My only concern with casting her as Hufflepuff would be whether it would be fair to the rest of the cast, because Claire Foy’s awesomeness will not be denied and I would absolutely expect her to run away with this production, too.
Allen Leech as Salazar Slytherin – This was a really tough casting call, you guys. Before casting Slytherin I would have to know the answer to an important preliminary question, which I posed above: is Slytherin pure evil, a straight-up baddie, or is there more to him than that? If Slytherin is a complex character, with his faults but not completely to blame for the break with Gryffindor and the other founders (i.e. if Gryffindor played a role in that falling-out), if he’s a more human character than just an evil, wizard-supremacist precursor to Voldemort, then I would want Allen Leech any day of the week and twice on Sunday. But if he’s just pure evil, then I wouldn’t want to see my beloved Tom Branson in that role. (Lady Sybil would never fall for a pre-Voldemort!) I think Allen Leech could play a really interesting complex, brooding Slytherin, though. So I’m casting him tentatively, but reserving the right to revise my casting decision if Jo makes him a more simple character (which I will leave to her discretion). (I’m including his picture here because I like looking at it, so there.) All other casting decisions are, however, set in stone.
My Brilliant Friend (The Neapolitan Novels #1), by Elena Ferrante – My second attempt at catching Ferrante Fever was much more successful! I’d tried to read My Brilliant Friend awhile back and gave it up after about 50 pages. This time, I pushed through to that magic 100-page mark and found, just as I’d hoped, that the story hooked me. Elena and Lila are two friends growing up in a tough Naples neighborhood in the 1950s and 60s. My Brilliant Friend follows them through childhood and adolescence, as Lila changes from the scrappy ugly duckling into the beautiful, desired swan, and Lena struggles to hold onto her own identity outside of the friendship. I loved this and can’t wait to whittle down my library pile so I can get to the next in the series.
The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, ed. Jesmyn Ward – I’d heard great things about this book of essays, collected from some of the most brilliant writers of color working today, and it was every bit as astonishing as I’d been told. The Fire This Time is a hard look at the experience of being black in today’s America, and it can be fairly uncomfortable to read as a white reader. But I am firmly of the opinion that we all need to be made uncomfortable periodically, and that The Fire This Time is a necessary, bold, brilliant book that should be on every American’s reading list, no matter the color of their skin – but especially those out there who need to be reminded of the personhood of others. Which, sadly, seems to be a lot of people these days.
Crowned and Dangerous (Her Royal Spyness #10), by Rhys Bowen – As I often do after finishing a particularly hard or wrenching read, I reached for a cozy mystery as a palate cleanser. This time, it was Crowned and Dangerous, the most recent installment in the adventures of Lady Georgianna Rannoch. When we last left Georgie, she was speeding toward Gretna Green with her true love, Darcy O’Mara. Sadly, this volume finds Georgie and Darcy foiled in their attempts to elope when Darcy spots a newspaper article reporting that his father has been arrested for murdering the rich American to whom the ancestral O’Mara home – Kilhenny Castle – has been sold. Darcy immediately rushes off to Ireland to see what can be done for Lord Kilhenny, and Georgie follows soon after. I love Georgie and Darcy as a crime-solving duo, and this was a fun ride. Can’t wait to see what Georgie gets up to next! (Can she move back into Kensington Palace, please?)
Before We Visit the Goddess, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – I’d read another of Divakaruni’s lovely, lyrical novels – The Palace of Illusions – a few years ago and was delighted to learn of this new release. Before We Visit the Goddess tracks the relationships of three generations of mothers and daughters – Sabatri, elderly and ailing back in India; Bela, recently divorced and lonely in America; and Tara, Bela’s lost and dysfunctional daughter. It was a slim but lovely novel, bittersweet throughout.
The Invasion of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling #2), by Erika Johansen – When we left the Tearling, the Mort army was at its gates, provoked into war by Queen Kelsea’s rash decision to undo a treaty signed by her mother, Queen Elyssa, which required the Tear to provide slaves to neighboring Mortmesne on a monthly basis. Now the invasion has begun and as Queen Kelsea struggles to manage her court and evacuate her people from the Morts’ path, she begins to have visions of a time before the Crossing, and a woman named Lily. Lily’s story is missing from Kelsea’s history books, but it is clear there is some connection between them, and this connection may hold the key to Kelsea’s ability to save the Tearling from destruction. I really enjoyed The Invasion of the Tearling – after liking, but not loving, the first in the trilogy, I found this second installment riveting. The Lily segments were particularly enthralling, bringing the dystopic elements of the story to the forefront as they did (and scaring me senseless after the election). Now I am itching to read the conclusion of the trilogy (and have only Googled “The Fate of the Tearling release date” approximately seventeen million times).
The Fishermen, by Chigozie Obioma – Four young brothers, taking advantage of their father’s extended absence for work, steal away from school to fish on the banks of a nearby river. One day, the brothers encounter the local madman, who makes a prophecy that convinces the eldest of the brothers that he’s destined to be murdered by one of his other brothers. The Fishermen takes the story of Cain and Abel and transplants it into Nigeria of recent times. It’s a gory, blood-spattered story that only gets gorier and more blood-spattered as the pages turn. I read it with my eyes popping out of my head and couldn’t look away, although it was not my usual reading material and definitely not for everyone. (If you have a weak stomach, as I do, be forewarned.) The Fishermen was very hyped around the time of its publication, and while it wasn’t really my cup of tea, I appreciated the outstanding writing and can definitely understand the accolades it received.
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, by Barack Obama – President Obama’s musings on the American dream and public policy had been on my to-read list for awhile, and I finally grabbed it from the library in mid-November. I was craving some words of sanity after a completely insane election, and the President’s thoughtful, reasoned discussions of all aspects of American life, and the policies that govern them, were just what I needed to read. It was fascinating to consider this book from the perspective that I now have, after eight years of the Obama Administration, knowing what he was able to achieve (same sex marriage! eliminating bin Laden!) in light of all the opposition with which he had to contend. (And his words on the failure of the Republican legislators to make the compromises necessary to govern seemed clairvoyant.) The Audacity of Hope gave me plenty to consider – and now I can’t wait for the presidential memoir that I’m sure is in the offing.
covered in flour 