New Year's Eve

We enjoyed a mostly quiet night at home for New Year's Eve.   I booked a Naperville Tuk Tuk Holiday Lights tour, so we headed downtown for hot drinks a few minutes before meeting our driver.   The light tour was all around the core downtown area and was a lot of fun because most were streets I had not been down before.   Our driver was a Disney fan and had some little nuggets to share as part of his commentary.    

As we were killing time before leaving, we waited inside the Hotel Indigo where a wedding party was having their cocktail hour and waiting for the bride and groom to come back from pictures.    We had already passed the couple taking photos on the Riverwalk at a covered bridge.   The guest of honor appeared to be a small dog.   It was fun watching them all dressed up and ready to party while we finished our night with carryout sushi and the Barbie movie!

At the stroke of midnight, our newest neighbors (whom we have not met but have piqued the interest of the neighborhood by installing an inground swimming pool DIY this winter) set off a massive amount of fireworks.   Lucy, who has never reacted to any noises, came frantically looking for us.  I went outside as the grand finale was bursting and it was pretty spectacular for an illegal neighborhood show.  The whole thing only last 5 minutes but it was LOUD.

William is happy to pose for pictures now for proof that he is as tall or taller than both of us.

Christmas Break

Christmas Day at home started with pastries!  We enjoyed cinnamon rolls and apricot rolls for first breakfast with the intention of making a pancake and bacon brunch after we finished with gifts.   But we were so full and relaxed that no one was hungry or wanted to cook, so we just napped and hung out. 

Lucy and William and I went for a morning walk while we waited for John to get up.   Then we spent a few hours leisurely working through stockings and presents.   Of course Lucy got her stocking first and scored on new nylabones!   She was so happy (and entertained) while we did the rest of the gifts.

I got a stack of Kate Quinn books.  I've only previously read the Alice Network, but it's the book I recommend most often and I'm very excited to read more from her!  Lucy spent a good part of the day napping (like most days) but since I was on the couch watching the Chiefs game, she hung out in the family room with me.   Her usual (workday) favorite spot is her identical bed that is under the window in the front living room.

She did get to spend one night at Rosie's house when we booked a last minute trip to Wisconsin Dells!  William got to invite a friend and we drove up Friday afternoon when he got done with volleyball skills camp he had each morning of break.  While John was collecting William and Dominic, I got to drop off Lucy and introduce her to Palmer, the Culberson's granddaughter.   She's about 18 months old, and she lives with a yellow lab, as well, so is very dog friendly.   Lucy spent only a few seconds figuring out Palmer comes with food...either that she's eating or wearing!   Lori sent us several photos of Palmer snuggling with Lucy.  Apparently Rosie just walks away but Lucy doesn't.

Meanwhile, at The Kalahari Resort, the boys ditched us in a hurry, so John and I got to enjoy the slides and adult hot tubs ourselves!  We did meet back up with them for dinner and a trip to the game room.   I was so disappointed to keep getting stuck behind terrible drivers on the go karts and not really being able to get my racing on!  We got in a few more slides and a ride on the flow surfer before heading home on Saturday.  One night was the perfect amount of time.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was the first day I really had time to bake, and I was so excited to try my mom's family's recipe for apricot rolls.  This is a recipe my Aunt Pam and Grandma Judy made each Christmas, and I had never attempted.  I got the recipe from my aunt and was three rolls in before realizing my yeast was expired.   Actually after I made 3 (one batch), I didn't like the rise on the dough and decided to make another batch.   I thought I was just rushed with the first trying to get out of the house.  Instead, I discovered after the second also wasn't as fluffy as I was expecting that my yeast was very expired.  The final batch turned out good enough to eat and to share, but I look forward to perfecting it next year!

I was rushing to finish the dough because we wanted to get to Christkindlmarket before the crowds hit. This year we tried the suburban one in Aurora and it was decent.   Not as cute or festive as Chicago, but very manageable commute, parking and crowds.   We shared a raclette, some gluwein, candied pecans and did some shopping.   It was a very pleasant, and quick, adventure.  

Back at home I decorated the cooled rolls so I could deliver one after mass.   I also put up the new owl ornament and the amazing nativity scene that John picked out.  Definitely a new favorite Christmas decoration due to its beauty and story.

We went to the Children's Mass at 4 p.m. to see the live action Christmas story.   The baby was so tiny!  But the real stars of the show were the shepherds and their sheep!  It's nice to be home for Christmas and attend this mass.

When we got home, everyone got their matching Christmas pajamas.  Even Lucy was in on it!  She didn't love the production of getting her hoodie on, but she enjoyed napping in it!

We enjoyed our traditional Christmas Eve charcuterie and watched a movie together.   I had to get a few pictures of the house and the luminaries our block sets up. Apparently this is a long standing tradition, but it has lost some luster as many people travel and don't do them.  But our immediate neighbors and the house across the street all had them, so we had a nice little run.

Club Volleyball

William started his second year of club volleyball in September.    Last year was technically only a partial year, as the middle school season starts after Christmas and runs through the July 4th AAU Nationals.    This year he had off roughly six weeks between last year's nationals with Sports Performance 14 Alpha and this year's club tryouts.  The season runs Labor Day through Fourth of July with a break March-May for the high school season.   Due to the number of boys that tried out, there was only one 15s team made this year instead of the two they had for 14s.   Only half the 14 Alpha team moved to 15s due to playing another year of 14s (the boys that were 7th graders moving to 8th), switching clubs or not continuing on with volleyball.  William and his 14 Alpha teammates were combined with last year's 14 Elite team to make a single 15 Alpha team.   

The result was that the boys who were used to playing every point last year on 14 Alpha were holding clipboards on the sidelines this year while the top 8 formerly of Elite were playing.   It was a very frustrating couple of months as William was committing virtually all of his non-school day hours to volleyball practice (leaving very little time for homework or sleep) but playing only a few minutes each tournament and receiving very limited coaching.   The level of frustration we had with club management and their idea of student-athletes and the goal of sports was taking a big toll on our enjoyment of the sport and the stress of school success.  And of course I was angry all fall that they were the only club in the area to require practices during Christmas week and make me cancel my vacation.  It came to a head during a 3-day tournament in November that would have required William to miss a full day of school.   John and I refused to let him attend on the third day, the school day, and he was dismissed from the team.      

But he was only without volleyball for about a week.   He was able to get a tryout at 630 Volleyball, the club where several of his Benet classmates play, and was offered a spot on their 15-3s team.   630 has more teams than Sports Performance (including between 4-8 teams each for 15s, 16s, 17s and 18s), so he was able to get on a team that was more suitable with his skill level, and he became an integral part of that team immediately.   John and I love the parents and kids and coaches, and are so happy to be supporting William in his sport.   And the practices are much more manageable with plenty of time for homework and studying!   It's just a completely different experience than the first few months, and it's a real joy to have joy around this activity now!