Sub-zero temperatures forced us to keep Lincoln indoors Sunday and Monday, but the air warmed (to 20 degrees or so) and more snow fell today. So we sent him out for his first experience in the white stuff as a walking, talking big boy.
He didn't like it much.
After 10 minutes or so, he broke into tears and wanted to go back in the house. What a city boy!
Thanks to Gram and Papa and the rest of the Chambers clan for another fun holiday adventure in Massachusetts!
The kids were still recovering from their nasty infections, albeit quite quickly with the antibiotics, so we decided to skip the ski trip that was planned. But there was plenty else to enjoy, including the girls' afternoon at the Boston Ballet's "Nutcracker" and all the rest below.
It all started with Lincoln's first flight last Monday. It went very smoothly, maybe because he slept through most of it!
There was a lot of snuggling with cousin Chloe, of course.
Uncle Colin read a favorite from Dad's childhood, "Santa Mouse," to Levynn and Lincoln (and soon-to-be-Aunt Katie and Uncle Dan) one evening.
Oh, and Lincoln chased the anti-social kitty every time he saw her.
We went to the New England Aquarium with Papa one afternoon.
We also trimmed (another) tree that day.
Levynn and Gram baked Christmas cookies another afternoon, and Lev was really involved.
There was supposed to be a big party on Friday night, but the storm that left about a foot of snow on the ground also kept most of the guests away. Dan's choral group made it, though, and gave us a nice show.
That snow also left us in a waiting game on Saturday, when we were supposed to fly out of Boston early in the afternoon.
(There's Papa, clearing off his car before work that morning.)
Our flight was delayed two hours, but fortunately we knew that before we left the house. We would have played in the snow while we waited - if our gear wasn't already packed! Instead, we just played indoors.
Six days into her antibiotic treatment, Levynn is feeling great. Her brother, however, is not.
Levynn returned to the pediatricians' office for a follow-up on Thursday, and the new doctor actually called her condition what no other had: pneumonia. We brought Lincoln along to get him a look, too, because he was coughing, had a low-grade fever and seemed to us to be heading in the same direction. But the doctor said he wasn't treatable... yet.
After two rough days and nights, Mom took Lincoln back for another look. That time frame was all his body needed to deteriorate enough for treatment. He suddenly had an ear infection, and we can be confident pneumonia was on the way. So he's on an antibiotic, too.
Oh, and there are less than two days left before we fly to Massachusetts.
When you're 4 and have a 102-degree temperature, haven't slept or eaten well in about three days and can't speak for coughing, this is what you get: Sad, pooky girl. But after chest x-rays and now a dose of antibiotics, we're hoping she'll start to feel better really soon.
Trying to put on a brave face:
Burst capillaries under her eyes, from such choking, forceful coughing:
Chicago's first snow of the season fell today, and today was just the day for it.
One year ago today, you may remember, we loaded our car and a rental van in Louisville and embarked upon our life-changing drive to Chicago. We didn't get to Chicago that day, of course - thanks to the winter storm that hit the region one year ago today.
But we did get to Chicago the next day (one year ago tomorrow), and we've been Chicagoans ever since.
The first of our two holiday adventures, this one with the Garrott side of our family, was well worth the long drive from Chicago to Western Kentucky.
We spent an evening at Mammy and Pap's house and the rest of our time at Grandy's cottage in Kentucky Dam Village. Many thanks for the hospitality, as usual, and the photos, some of which we borrowed and added to our own below.
Let's have a look!
Here's Mammy showing Levynn and Clark a few things on the piano.
Here's Grandaddy on the floor with Levynn and Clark.
Here's Dad and Mom sharing a moment.
Here's one of Levynn's three late-night crashes in Grandy's lap.
Here's Uncle Byron reading our battered and beloved Frosty the Snowman book to cousin Clark, Lincoln and Levynn.
Here's our fun Thanksgiving Day gang, gathered for a neat shot on the cottage stairs.
And here are those cute kids again, holding hands during the peaceful ride home.
Oh, and did we mention that it's amazing how much different a parent's view of such a trip can be when the kids have been happy on the road?
Levynn's class went on its third(!) field trip today, and this was a special one. Has anyone heard of Ella Jenkins? She's an 84-year-old children's folk singer who received a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 for her wonderful career, and she's still performing.
The Pre-K and kindergarten classes (with Dad along as a chaperone) walked to the Old Town School of Folk Music and filled almost the entire auditorium for Miss Jenkins' hour-long show. She gets the audience involved in every song, which is a nice way to keep young kids interested. She also calls audience members - both children and adults - to the stage to give her a hand.
Levynn didn't go up, but Dad sure did. He volunteered once when Miss Jenkins called for seven men, since there weren't many of those in the seats. But near the end of the show she called on him specifically. She said that she didn't know how to make a clucking noise with her tongue and wanted to hear the audience try it. Apparently, Dad's cluck rose above the din of all clucks because people turned to look at him and Miss Jenkins pointed right at him. So he shared the microphone with her and clucked to the beats in the answers to the questions in the "Did You Feed My Cow?" song.
Can you picture that?
Levynn, the real performer in the family, generously called Dad a "star" and gave him a big hug when he returned to his seat.
