Day: January 2, 2011

Christmas 2010 Austin – Arriving

Text by Andy: we flew on Christmas day this time, which allowed us to have Austrian Christmas eve at home. Then we flew to Austin and arrived at night.

Leilani admiring Grandma’s nativity made of Santons from Provence (France). I remember collecting these when we lived there:

We had a nice Christmas dinner (pumpkin soup) and then Leilani had just enough time left on Christmas to open one present, she chose her stocking:

Actually, Leilani ran upstairs to change into her fancy Christmas dress all by herself, even before opening her stocking. She loves this sparkly red dress:

And snuggling with Grandma before going to bed:

Somehow, Leilani managed to delay going to be long enough to make the puzzle from her stocking. It was all the US Presidents, so everybody felt it was too hard for her and helped out–nobody can resist helping with a puzzle. Leilani loves puzzles and is very good with them. She now knows to look for pictures and colors that match, and then she patiently tries pieces, based on their shapes.


Christmas 2010 Austin – Delayed Christmas Day

We did our Christmas routine on December 26th this year. First off, a brunch fit for a holiday:

And then a “before” picture:

And then the fun begins:

Leilani was actually very helpful and could read most gift tags well enough to find presents for everyone. In the end, I think all the adults sat down all morning, and she ran around giving people gifts and helping those who needed helping, as well as opening her own of course:

But sometimes Leilani still needs help reading cursive handwriting:

The whole family received sweaters from Ireland–they’re beautiful and very useful in the colder-than-usual winter this year in California:

Rosemary made Andy a great family album covering his ancestors and childhood (so far):

Long story: in one of the French Martine books that Rosemary passed on to Leilani, Martine sees a beautiful porcelain doll in an antique store, finds it at home, has to give it back, and then gets it for her birthday (after some tears). Leilani loves this story so much, she recreated it: she saw a porcelain doll at the thrift store with Sonja, who bought it for her, but the doll was stiff, just for show, so we sent it to Grandma who had it fixed. We’re not sure she remembered it when she opened her biggest box:

It was so big that Leilani wanted to save the paper and asked Jim to help so it wouldn’t tear:

Leilani was really happy to see the doll again, just like Martine:

More presents all around:


Including another Martine book that Daddy had to read right away:



Leilani likes to help Grandpa Jim open presents, and Grandpa likes to have someone help him:



After opening presents, Leilani was getting a bit wound up and needed to get outside:

We walked down to the playground nearby, picked pecans, hid the fake poinciana as a game, and walked back at dark. Leilani met and petted every cat along the street:


And Uncle David brought raclette cheese from Trader Joe’s in Pasadena again for another special raclette dinner:

Christmas 2010 Austin – McKinney Falls

The day after the day after Christmas, we had nothing planned. In fact, we had nothing planned for the rest of the week. Grandma rented a big car so everyone could drive together (a GMC Acadia) so we decided to drive to a hike. McKinney Falls on the south side of Austin.

It was afternoon and not very sunny when we got there, but it’s still a pretty area. The waterfalls are cut into the limestone that is so typical around Austin. The Upper Falls are near the parking lot, and it’s easy to climb down on the rocks.

Jim’s photo:

Andy’s Photo:

Leilani like the idea of jumping across a water fall, and had lots of fun going back and forth–and then a few extra times for the camera:

On the other side of the waterfall was a neat area to explore. There was no trail, but it’s easy to walk on the flat bare rocks.

Leilani could not resist playing in the puddles, and we were lucky her feet stayed dry (mostly):

The park map showed the lower falls not far away, and the iPhone satellite map showed that we could get there on this side of the river. So we went exploring

And saw lots of pretty plants:

3 guys looking for the way to the next waterfall (you know how this is going to end, don’t you?):

That’s right, it was a dead end. We couldn’t get across the river here back to the trail, and another stream kept us from continuing on this (wrong) side:

Andy did jump down on some rocks in the river to get a neat reflection:

And there was a big hole in the rock to admire:

But in the end, we had to turn back and retrace our steps.

A while later, on the right trail to the other waterfall, we stopped in the balconies and caves that the native Indians surely used:


We found a huge Daddy Long Legs spider that scared Miss Leilani:

And then we reached the Lower Falls, which were worth the walk:

Jim climbed down on a rock this time to get the good angle:

But by then it was getting dark and we had to hurry back. The iPhone again took us on a short detour, but we got back to the car before it was totally dark (well, night does fall early around Christmas). It sounds like a lot of walking, but it was only 2.5 miles (4 km) in the end–but it was a pretty walk.

On the drive home, we decided to find the gingerbread display that we had heard about. It was at a big hotel downtown by the river, and google on the iPhone found this one at the Hyatt-Regency:

Nice, Austin-themed but not Texas-sized. Leilani looked at it for a minute and then had more fun riding the glass elevator with Grandma. It turns out we were waylaid by a competing gingerbread display. The one we were looking for was the gingerbread village at the Four Seasons.

Christmas 2010 Austin – 37th (and a Half) Street

After McKinney Falls, we found a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that was OK, but not that great. Since Leilani was awake again, we decided to visit the famous Christmas lights on 37 ½ Street. There were somewhat fewer than in previous years (2006, 2007, and 2008) and almost no political displays now that Obama is president, but it was still a pretty walk:











The motorcycle is still there, I think it’s parked here all year:

But the Vespa was new, and looks nicer, so it’s good to know Austin is still weird:

Some people experimented with foil as part of their decorations:

And Sonja experimented with photos of the foil:

Sonja reminded me of one last story: After we drove away, Leilani realized she had lost her glove. We drove all the way back, and everybody (except Andy) walked around another 15 minutes in the dark looking for a dark purple glove. Unfortunately, it stayed lost. Leilani got to bed much later than usual that day.
Sonja adds: Leilani didn’t just realize she had lost the glove – she was totally distraught by it. Leilani hardly ever looses anything, but if she does she searches obsessively. I think she would have gone to bed even later and much more upset had we not at least tried.

Christmas 2010 Austin – Natural History Museum

On Tuesday, Andy worked remotely from home and everybody else visited the Texas Natural Science Center at the University of Austin.





Leilani still loves saber-toothed tigers.

That evening, we left Leilani with Grandma and Grandpa and went on a date. Like the other times, we went to the Clay Pit Indian restaurant.

Afterwards, he iPhone sent us to the wrong movie theater for the movie we wanted to see, so we just went home early. Leilani was still watching her movie: Misty that Grandma and Grandpa gave her for Christmas.