Thursday, December 28, 2017

Great wolf time



Jason surprised us all right before Christmas with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge.


As the last time we went there was five years ago, neither Caleb nor Lizzy remembered it, and Ada was only five and suited for small slides only.


We managed to get all the way into the parking lot of the resort before the kids realized where we were really going (someplace a little more appealing to them than merely "a hotel where we'll look at Christmas decorations," which is what we told them).


First look at the indoor water park.


No trip to Great Wolf Lodge is complete without wolf ears--this time in seasonal white.




Aaaaoooooooo!


For reference, here are pictures from our first trip, seven years ago.








As with most things in life, water parks are way more fun when your kids aren't babies.




And able to hold their own in a water battle against you.






In the wave pool, in between wave sessions.


Family-friendly hot tub.


Caleb had a blast.






...most of the time.


After our first full day of water parking, playing, and eating ourselves silly, we stayed up [relatively] late for the "clock tower show," which is when the animatronic trees and animals in the grand lobby come to life and sing songs. 


Apparently a lot of people get more enthralled with animatronics than I, because that lobby was packed with families of young children--all of them overexcited, overtired, and full of chlorine and sugar; and 30% of them with head colds as well.


We tried our best to stay out of the way of the waitstaff rushing through, but sooner or later the inevitable happened.  A waitress tripped over Lizzy and went down with a tray full of strawberry daiquiri, rendering a large portion of the already insufficient floorspace sticky and soggy. 


We squeezed ever further back until we were under the grand lobby Christmas tree, where Jason laid down and closed his eyes as a desperate coping mechanism as the [*ahem*creepy*ahem*] show started up and robotic animals sang to us in tinny British accents about the great outdoors.  One of the tree's eyelids was stuck open, furthering my sense that these robots are possibly sentient, evil beings who will haunt my dreams tonight.


Caleb coped by climbing into Santa's empty chair, scowling, and refusing to watch.




In Great Wolf's defense, the show did include very realistic, lovely indoor snow showers falling from the ceiling.


And thankfully my kids had their fill of singing trees after the one night.


Outside the windows was chilly; but inside, the water was warm, the food was hot, our pj's were fuzzy, and the lazy river was rambling.  There were squeals, there was lounging, there was feasting, there was snuggling, there was splashing, there was sliding:  all the ingredients for a great family trip.







Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Merry Christmas



Christmas morning 




New cars from Christmas Eve at Grandma's house.


Stockings.








We took a break after stockings to feast on bacon and eggs, fruit, and cranberry-orange bread.


And to play in a humongous box from the present I opened on Christmas Eve.




Then it was on to gift exchanging.


A bun maker for Lizzy's hair from Caleb...




A sack of candy from Lizzy for Caleb...




A t-shirt for Daddy from Lizzy and Caleb.




The usual cars and trucks and toys...






And new this year, the star of the show:  a special gift for Jeddy.




Meet Buck, a baby mini-rex/dwarf rabbit mix.






Buck received a raucous and enthusiastic and lengthy welcome to our home.




Later, when the evening settled down somewhat, we played with Ada's bun maker.


hot cross bun


twisty bun


Merry Christmas to all!







Sunday, December 17, 2017

The silly and the sacred



Christmas, like life, is a combination of ridiculousness and profundity.  








One of the many blessings of children is that they exaggerate both.


They ask questions like, "Does God love Satan?" and "Why did Jesus have to die?" and three seconds later they're running around with their pants on their head.


They add Air Force jets to the nativity scene.  




We celebrate the incarnation of Christ with worship and corporate singing, and stringing years' worth of flotsam on a tree we dragged inside from the woods.








We sing Joy to the World and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and O Holy Night and Jingle Bells.




This is the world that Jesus entered.  He tasted our sadness, our inanity, our curse.


He played This Little Piggy and Pin the Tail on the Donkey and he waited in line at the market and learned to not put his clothes on backwards.




And He bore the weight of the Father's eternal wrath for sinners who spurned His kindness.  He opened heaven's gate and brought rejoicing to the hearts of generations of saints.




And the way He started this mind-boggling task was to become a naked, flailing infant, bound by strips of cloths and laid in a manger.




Son of God, King of Heaven, made helplessly weak and vulnerable on Christmas morning.


It's almost ridiculous in its profundity.









Sunday, December 10, 2017

Season of joy



Really, Target?




That's not even a little bit true.  That doesn't even sound true.  


Ask any owner of an Apple TV trying to watch a movie and getting the endless "connecting to Anynet device..." message.  


Ask any parent who has let their kid play iPad or watch cartoons before bed, and then told them to turn it off, whether technology gave their children abiding peace and grateful hearts of joy.


Ask my husband, who works long hours wrestling technology into submission, only to have a bug freeze up a week's worth of coding. 


Ask anyone who's ever used Siri.


Tech brings joy.   Good grief.




Never mind the fact that Target chose one of life's surest sources of frustration to associate with joy; what a grotesquely ugly distortion of even a worldly spirit of Christmas. 




What happened to sugarplums dancing in children's heads and sweet glowing faces in pajamas lighting up at the sight of stuffed stockings?


What happened to Christmas carols in nursing homes and Salvation Army bell ringers and giving your neighbors Christmas cookies?


Couldn't we at least associate something like that with joy?




Because, besides presents that don't bring us endless frustration, the non-materialistic aspects of the season at least sound like something that would bring us joy.




Isn't that closer to what the angel was referring to when he said, "Behold, I bring you good news of great joy"?




"Great news, people!  Hereafter, you're going to get every December the 25th off of work; you'll get to make your house smell like a fir tree; you'll get to make your kids' faces light up with presents and candy canes; and you might even get a new iPhone!"


And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.






Not even close. 


Our worldly hopes for a Christmas with minimal bickering, kids who politely thank Grandma for socks, and enough eggnog to soothe life's bumps really isn't the point any more than Target's misguided and crass marketing campaign.








First, meditate on the fact that we need a Savior.  Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight.  "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).  If you don't need a Savior, you don't need Christmas.  Christmas will not have its intended effect until we feel desperately the need for a Savior. 








Most of us over the age of eight realize that Christmas doesn't bring joy primarily because we get stuff. 




But colored lights are pretty, and gingerbread smells nice, and weeks of party preparation is exciting, and these things easily overshadow our adult hearts, don't they? 


Which is why Advent serves to counteract the tendencies of our busy hearts. 




To meditate on our need for a Savior.


To feel the darkness, and hopelessness, of a world without God.


To grieve, and understand more of the depth of, our sin that separates us from God.




And then, to hear the angel burst forth:  "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy... for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!"


O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy!
O tidings of comfort and joy!






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