Christmas Trip, Pt. 1

We just drove from Memphis to Philly and back for the holidays.  The first stop on the way up was Ohio.  We had dinner at Blue Ash Chili for some of that famous Cincinnati chili.  

Cincinnati Three Way. (Caveat: don't google that at work!)

Phoebe wouldn't take her face out of her plate of chili long enough for a proper picture.  She LUVED it.

Next up was an ice cream pilgrimage to the original Jeni's in Columbus.

Everyone loved the ice cream, but this stop was really for the Lady of the House - Jeni is the patron saint of home ice cream makers.

Ready to get back in the car!

Christmas Play

Frankie had his class Christmas play a few weeks ago.  It lasted about 5 minutes.  He was a wise man.
 

Wise men close up.  Frankie holding down the middle.

Enchanted Forest

The Pink Palace dusts off and sets up old department store Christmas decorations to make the Enchanted Forest. This is where went to see Santa. The kids wanted to dress up to meet Santa - this is Frankie's version of Santa (note the pipe) and Phoebe's take on an elf.

Merry Christmas

Decorating the tree

You got to put the tree together before you decorate it.

Total concentration.

Putting the angel on top.

Mesmerized by the color wheel.

Decorating the yard

Out to lunch.

All hands on deck.

Odds & Ends

Story time.

Stirring the chili.

First snow came early this year.  Didn't last long.

Sitting on a log in Overton Park.

Playing Santa.

There is a fine line between intimidation and dress up.

More of the same.  Here comes trouble!

Final Weekend

The weekend after Thanksgiving was the last at the cabin until next Spring.  The first full year in Arkansas is now in the books and it boy was it fun.  We saw this luxury car at the supermarket - German engineering meets Arkansas ingenuity.
 

Breakfast at Carol's Lakeview - home of the homemade dollar caramel roll and 50 cent coffee.  Tough to beat!

The old cemetery on top of the hill is a favorite hiking destination.  Not sure why Phoebe has a bucket on her head.

On the cliff overlooking the river.

Playing board games in pajamas.

Frankie's use of his own boats shows that he might not understand the concept of Battleship just yet.

Lots to do closing up the place for the winter, including putting out the Owl to keep the raccoons away.  Don't know if it'll work, but the kids sure liked it.
 

Football in the field.

Photo by Phoebe - she's been taking more and more pictures that don't prominently feature her thumb.

Walking around with nothing to do.

Secret Cave

We'd heard some talk about a cave that is on the steep side of Wahpeton Hill.  Needless to say, the kids have been fascinated by the idea of finding it.

Superdad has been clearing trees in front of the cabin to reclaim a view of the river below.  As he has made progress clearing, he's had to go further and further down the face of the steep side of the hill and recently caught the first glimpse of what appeared to be the opening to a cave.

The family was informed of the discovery and an expedition was soon formed.  You can't walk straight down to it because it is too steep, but you can walk down the path along the bluff and then cut back and traverse along the side of the hill until you get to the opening.   It's a little hairy getting there even though, as the crow flies, it is probably less than 100 feet from the cabin.

It's about the size of a mini-van inside.

You enter through the small opening on the uphill side and then you get a view of the river from a bigger opening on the downhill side.

Phoebe asked if she could sleep in it that night.  We told her she could when she's 16.

Spelunking can get chilly so sometimes you have to snuggle up.

Bowling

Phoebe was on us all summer to take her bowling, but we just never got around to it.  It took a rainy day in Arkansas to finally get us to the local lanes - Indian Hills Bowl.

It's an old 12 lane bowling alley with nice Native American touches like this sign marking the ladies room.

Phoebe got set up with her shoes and a 6 lb. ball.  They asked if we wanted the bumpers in the gutters.  I said that we didn't need them and they looked at little Phoebe and then they looked at me like I was insane.  They we're right.  95% of Phoebe's balls would have never touched a pin if it wasn't for the bumpers. 

Waiting at the ball return.

She tried not to cross the foul line, but the ball usually pulled her a few feet down the lane as she released it.

Father-daughter self portrait.

Phoebe liked seeing her name on the screen.  Not bad for her first game ever.

The only thing good about Superdad's awful game was that he finished with 3 strikes in the 10th frame for his first ever turkey.

Go Phoebe!