An Early Christmas

We spent Dec 12-20 in Crystal Lake, IL, visiting my parents and my brother and attending a wedding of one of Andy's good friends from college. The visit was an early Christmas/Solstice celebration, so we got our presents on Dec 14. Yea for early gifts!

Sofia had a great time playing in the snow, learning how to weld (from my brother Rob), and learning how to make lace (from Mum). She had so much fun, in fact, i think she will be disappointed if we don't make it out there again next winter (as will i).

On Dec 17, my parents, Andy, and i went to downtown Chicago for a taping of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, leaving Sofia in the care of Rob and his partner Rob. This was when she welded, and they also sang karaoke! The adults in the family were well entertained by the hosts of the radio show, Carl Kasell and Peter Sagal, along with the guest panel that week: Roxanne Roberts, Tom Bodett, and Paula Poundstone. After the show, they all hung around talking to audience members and signing autographs. Andy bought Paula Poundstone's latest book and had her inscribe it to Mum, since the comedian is one of Mum's favorites.

We did other stuff, too, like going to the Field Museum of Natural History to see Sue, the T-Rex, or playing with Mum's new Wii, or packing and shipping boxes of my books to Seattle. I think everyone had fun while we were there, and it's nice to have my books again ;)