Christmas 2020

 

Snow flurries on Christmas Eve -- rare in Atlanta!

  

 

So suave! 

Hopefully this blog will soon feature some of Hazel's photos!

These days, Juniper's #1 Obsession is the webcomic Homestuck. This plush ornament of the Homestuck character Nepeta made her cry with joy.

Dragon*Con 2018

Medusa, Perseus, and Squirrel Girl

Double trouble

More photos from last Christmas. Hazel and Luke are lucky and happy to spend holidays together.

Gramma is a big fan of the matching gifts! With their similar interests, it's easy to get them matching gifts that they both enjoy.

Star Wars tsum tsums for everyone!

Christmas 2017 (Better late than never)

The look on their faces is why parents go overboard on Christmas. Magic and wonder.

This is a bittersweet memory among the other happy photos. Our friend Danie got the girls these Shopkins as a Christmas gift before she passed away in November.

Hazel solved a puzzle as part of her clue present...

...leading her to the giant Lego set hidden in the car.

Juniper's clue present was an assortment of Magical Items.

Kingdomino really is that much fun! It was Hazel's gift, but the adults have enjoyed it at least as much as she has.

Cafe Mother's Day

Best fancy restaurant ever. The menu had a wide assortment of peanut butter sandwich options and scrambled eggs, and the server was delightful.

2017 Christmas Pageant

Our kids are now among the oldest in the pageant. This year, Juniper graduated from the masses (angels, friendly beasts, and shepherds) to the role of Innkeeper's Daughter, and one of the narrators reading the story.

A not-so-friendly beast.

This is our family's 7th year participating in the UUCA pageant. 

I simultaneously feel sentimental about the kids' participation in the pageant and am really looking forward to when we will be done with it -- so sweet, and so boring at the same time!

Merry Christmas!

As we get into the Christmas season, here are some photos from Christmas 2016!


I'm pretty sure we hit peak parental awesomeness when the kids discovered the backyard zipline.

We have no ideas for this year that come even close to the zip line.

Imagine the exact opposite of this emotion when Juniper left her kindle in an airport bathroom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

100 from Sally Honeycutt on Vimeo.

Friends & Fireworks

After our cruise returned to Seattle, we took the train down to Portland to visit our friend Kelly.

Although Hazel is too young to remember when Kelly lived in Atlanta, she immediately took to Kelly like the good family friend she is.

In addition to being an all around wonderful person, Kelly won extra bonus points with Hazel for keeping us all plied with ice cream, chocolate, and doughnuts. If you ask either girl, they will tell you that Portland has AMAZING food. (Aaron and I agree.)

I've never gone out for 4th of July fireworks dressed like this, but it's a little cooler in the Pacific Northwest than the Southeast.

Kelly's condo is an easy walk to fireworks, but we were briefly delayed by this passing train.

We made it! Fireworks, bridges, river -- fun!

In case there was any doubt that Juniper is a truly champion sleeper, here she is, fast asleep against Kelly's legs, while the rest of us watch fireworks.

You don't say, Mr. Claus?

Christmas pageant

Friendly beasts, angels, and shepherds all illicitly stomping down the pews.

Too old for Baby Jesus, too young for a friendly beast...maybe next year, Fern.

Cutest sheep, ever. Hazel explained to me that the best thing about the pageant is that it lets her know when it's Christmas Eve.

Hazel insisted that the Storm Trooper tattoo on her forehead was fine, because her sheep mask would cover it up.

I guess the angels were more interesting than the action down below. Juniper was among the angels for the first time in this year's pageant. Apparently, she and Violet worked out a deal to rotate between angels and beasts each year, so that they can be together in the pageant. Forever. Juniper seems to think that she and Violet are on track to being the only middle-aged beasts/angels in the show.

Merry Christmas, sisters.

Family in Indigo

Grier's Christmas present/project for the family was a natural indigo dyeing extravaganza--shirts, scarves, bandannas, tote bags, aprons, and tea towels. It was fun to have so much of the family together for Christmas this year!

Christmas Ninja

Given his own childhood obsession with ninjas, Uncle Grier really knows how to make some ninja fun. Origami throwing stars...

aluminum foil grappling hooks...

and an obstacle course to test their ninja skills.

Santa comes to Clarkston

My favorite image from the Clarkston tree lighting celebration: the teen-age girl in skinny jeans, hijab, and a Santa hat.

Father's Day/Sleepaway camp

This year we celebrated Father's Day in some ways that are typical for our family. The girls made posters and gifts, and we had a lingering big breakfast.

 

We visited Toccoa Falls (one of the tallest waterfalls east of the Mississippi). Toccoa is a Cherokee word that means "beautiful," and these falls and the surrounding region are aptly named.

The girls clambered like mountain goats and enjoyed getting close enough to the waterfall to feel its spray.

But this Father's Day, it wasn't all about Aaron.

We were up in Toccoa to drop Juniper off for sleep away camp at Camp Toccoa! Here she is claiming her top bunk. She was a little bit nervous in the week before camp, but by Saturday night she was just excited. ("I'm too excited to sleep! I wish it was already tomorrow!") She was delighted to head off to camp and looking forward to making new friends (but also hoping that there wouldn't be anyone mean in her cabin, especially not her bunk mate).

When we left, she had just joined a circle of other girls and was learning how to play Poison Dart Frog--a favorite camp game.