Memorial Day 2021

It was a classic Memorial Day weekend!  All the family came over to our place this time, all dressed up in their red, white and blue.  I got to try out my grill for the first time this year.  In fact, since the heart incident, this is the first time I've eaten a hamburger and a hot dog, and though they aren't lethal, they certainly aren't good for me.  But they still tasted wonderful, because there's something special about items you cook on your own grill for these summer occasions.  

Earlier in the day we were doing all our preparations.  We were listening to old records and setting up decorations outside on the back deck.  I got my walking in on the treadmill, and found the perfect decoration for it - the Captain America shield fits perfectly on the front there.  

Now I'm envisioning adding "S.H.I.E.L.D." stickers on the side of the treadmill, and so on.  I set up the computer as always, because I like to go do POV walks on the treadmill.  Today's destination was Washington DC, going from the Vietnam Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial along the Reflecting Pool to the World War II Memorial.  'Merica!

We even made patriotic cookies today!

That's always fun, sitting down to decorate the cookie shapes that Mom sends our way.  She got some cookie cutters in the shapes of flags, stars, and the continental United States.  Sorry Alaska and Hawaii!

Last week there was a sale on a corn hole game, something that we always wanted, so I swung by to pick that up.  Today we got to take it for a test run with the family, and it was just perfect.  We had that set up under the back deck.  Ye-Ye and Maddie and Hannah were giving it a try, and then much later, Maddie and I were having an all-left handed version of the game, because why not?  She's very proud to say that she won that three game playoff.  It even went into extra innings!

The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend.  Whereas last week in the middle parts, the temperature was in the lower nineties, the temperature dropped ten degrees or more, and in fact has been pretty cool in the morning and evenings.  The skies were partly cloudy, and everyone sat comfortably outside on the back deck as we had a magnificent feast with potato salad, macaroni salad, homemade coleslaw, chips, deviled eggs, hot dogs, hamburgers, and all the toppings you need for a great burger.  Mom made her banana pudding for afterwards, plus some cupcakes that she decorated to go with the patriotic theme.  

We celebrated a few birthdays too.  A month ago, Ye-Ye and David had birthdays, along with Mom.  I was having my issues back then, plus everyone was just simply busy.  Memorial Day offered us a day off so we could be together.  And even though some even worked on Memorial Day, they got off just in time to come over late this afternoon and just be together for a nice little party.  Ye-Ye got a mini-chainsaw for cutting branches and so on, and we got David a gift card to the movies.  Mom made these garden ornaments that came out very nice, these glass mushrooms that I'll have to take a picture of when I'm over at Ye-Ye's house - he really liked them, and was surprised he didn't think of the idea first.  She took glass bowls f different sizes and patterns and put them on top of glass vases of different shapes and patterns, gluing them together and creating a glass mushroom.  Pretty neat!

All good things must come to an end, and so we said goodbye to everyone, completely glad to have everyone over again.  We were exhausted, so there's no much left to say after the full day, although we did wrap up season two of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." tonight, getting to see Mr. Hyde once more.  This was a classic season finale, and we'll never forget having to wait the entire summer to figure out what happened to Jemma Simmons.  I forgot how much fun this series was.

We read tonight, and we prayed, and wow, we were tired.  Mom was having difficulties though.  Sometimes it hits her in the night, or sometimes immediately after eating.  Tonight it was not long after eating, and it was more painful than usual.  She took some medication for that, but it still kept her up later.  We'll get to sleep in tomorrow, and we'll let her sleep in as long as she wants.

Six Flags Over Georgia

This afternoon was our big trip to Six Flags, and for Maddie it was her first time.  She had an absolutely great time there, but without question thinks that Dollywood is much, much better.  This might have something to do with the crowds here at the park, which were insane.  To give you an idea of how crowded it was, she literally only rode one ride twice.  And that was within a five-hour span.  The other time was spent waiting for food, or for some of us, waiting for really long periods of time for rides that stopped working.

This is Diana, who is one of our wonderful friends.  She was getting drinks for us while I was waiting to hand someone a ticket, and she was in line for drinks for 45 minutes.  But we knew what we were getting into, and Maddie's big goal for the day was to finally try a roller coaster, and here's the one she rode:

She enjoyed it, and in fact rode it twice.  But I think she was done with roller coasters for the day after this one.  Or any other ride for that matter.  But the point is, she got to do what she wanted to do, and she had a great time with different people exploring the park.  

I love roller coasters, but I wasn't sure about them given my recent heart episodes.  So I stuck with some other friends on a more serene and sentimental journey.

You can see we're making monster faces because yes, after thirty years or so, I'm back at the Monster Plantation.  Or, at least the Monster Mansion, which is what they've changed the name to.  I guess the word "plantation" must be offensive to someone.  Which means my subdivision is probably going to need to change its name, but I digress.  Here's the group I was with, which made the really long line much more fun:

God is so good.  After I was waiting all that time for a drink, I walked up to this ride, and just happened to run into my good friends, and we had a nice time riding together.

They don't let you bring cameras in to the park, but I was using my cell phone to take these pics today, and they came out pretty well.

Even this one inside the plantation.  There's the sheriff, who I've been quoting for thirty years now:  "Don't go in there!"  You can see some of our friends are terrified:

This is Mr. Quick, a dear friend that we enjoy spending time with.  He and his family have been so great.  

Oh, and here's Mr. Jelly Belly.  He was super friendly too, hanging around on the bench down nearby.

I'd rather not talk about this picture right now.  I'm not sure how it got here.  Anyway, they all decided to do a roller coaster after that, so I was on my own for a bit. 

So I went to the Hall of Justice!  And this building just looks amazing.  Can we stop to appreciate how great this looks?

It's like the seventies cartoon "Superfriends" come to life!  I just couldn't wait to get inside!

And soon enough, I couldn't wait anymore.  Literally.  We waited in there for a super long time, and I think we were only moving forward when other people in front of us gave up and got out of line.  There wasn't any air conditioning in the Hall of Justice, as the Superfriends don't need that sort of thing.  The point is, I didn't get to ride the ride.  But that's okay.  Because I did another ride!

I was talking to Mom on the phone, and decided to hop on the carousel at the top of the hill, because that was literally the only ride in the park without a line.  The cars next door had an hour wait, but for some reason, the carousel didn't draw the crowds.  But I love carousels, just for their artistry, mechanics, and a sense of nostalgia.

I sat in this rocking chair afterwards, just resting and taking in a bit of the atmosphere.  It was a quiet area, perhaps the only one in the park.

I sat there a moment, texting Maddie, who was telling me she was having a great time.  One fun fact about Six Flags is that they don't take cash.  I gave her two twenties going in, because one twenty was not enough for food and drink.  No joke.  But it turned out she needed to get some sort of credit card thing and so on, and it took the girls a little bit to work all that out.  I didn't know this going in. 

Anyway, I got up and walked a lap around the park as if I were on my treadmill, and I happened to run into our friends again over at this crazy ride.

It's a little swing ride, and I don't even like those on the ground.  But this one takes you this high up:

Yeah.  Anyway, the rest of their group was waiting in another line, they told me, and guess who was with them now?

I got to spend a little time with Maddie today, and that was an answer to prayer too.  I mean, I want her to go and have a great day with friends and not have dad lurking around.  But just a tiny bit of time with the group together was nice.  We sat down for a meal together - although right before the meal, Maddie spotted something at a Steampunk-themed shop that she wanted to pick up. 

It's the necklace she's wearing.  She's posing with another old friend of ours we ran into over by that shop, one that may be getting a job at Free Chapel very soon. 

The "Steampunk District" still has a few things to work on.  There's a big ride over there, and this shop that sells mostly top hats with gears on, but then there was this thing here, which looked fascinating..

There were go-karts too, but those looked standard.  I guess I'm saying it needs a little work.  The idea sounds like it could be something amazing though - a steampunk themed area.  I'm all in for that!

Anyway, we were right back afterwards, eating with our friends.  Spending the day together was what made the day more fun - it was just right.  Oh, and here's another old friend we got to see again:

Yeah, there's Mr. Jelly Belly again!  Maddie was having fun, and there weren't any attitudes at all today from anyone.... well, except for maybe this bunch here:

Yeah, we saw that "attitudes" sign there and had to pose accordingly.  But despite this joke picture here, it was a good day today.

And it was a long day too!  I mean, we started out early this morning, heading off to church for two services before we did any of this, and that's usually a long day by itself!

This morning was another wonderful morning at KidPak, as our Storm Chasers series has been rolling around in a fantastic way.  Lots of laughs and learning - we're hitting our bottom line really well lately.  This morning's message about Noah and getting to shelter was really good.

It was a solid day.  We got home after 11pm, having left the house around 7:30am or so... and as you can imagine, we were zonked!  I read a bit to Maddie tonight from "Kingdom Keepers," and after that, we were asleep really quickly!

Arbor

We put up Mom's arbor today in the backyard, and it looks very nice there.  The ground was pretty uneven, so Mom and I had to work on digging the appropriate size holes, using a level and spending a good deal of time adjusting each side so that it looked just right.  It's not completely level, but the ground is so angled at that point that it actually appears more level than it really is.  Anyway, it looked great there, but we decided that it needed much more of course.  And that was always the vision, so I went out and got a whole lot of bags of mulch, and Mom planted some of the rose bushes nearby, the idea being that they'll be climbing up the side of the arbor some day.  The overall dream is that this will be a path around the side of the house, one that will lead to the garden and to the fire pit we envision having down at the back of the yard.  That'll be the next big project, although there is still some to do with the arbor area.

Our blueberries are really coming along, by the way.  I got some netting because I have to cover the bushes, as the branches are hanging so low with the weight of the berries.  Birds and everyone will really want a piece of that action!

Madison was back with Team Edge today, as it is every two weeks.  It's an hour and a half, and Maddie enjoyed today's team training quite a bit.  But we knew that before she even got there.  Today they were focusing on weapons training, and being more synchronized.  There were exercises just to keep in shape, of course, and there were times where the group just sat together on the floor mat, talking and sharing.  

The rest of the day Maddie spent relaxing, mostly dong some things on her phone.  We were watching "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." tonight, and there was some time sitting together, learning our lines for tomorrow's skit.  We're going to both be on stage tomorrow for KidPak, and it should be fun.  We're reading from "Kingdom Keepers III" tonight, which is still pretty fun.  The Keepers are in EPCOT dealing with jesters and crash test dummies.  Good times!

We said our prayers and got to bed earlier tonight.  Tomorrow is going to be a HUGE day.

Swordplay

 I said I'd bring my camera, and so I did!  Here are some pictures of Maddie in action tonight during leadership class, pictures of her working with the sword.  You can see Mr. Edge guiding the class, a smaller one tonight, but that gave everyone more room to swing around those swords!

Also here tonight was Mr. Byrd.  He's been so good to Nana, always here to stop and have a conversation, and just be a good friend.  

These two will sit and talk the entire session as they watch the kids practice.  Just yesterday, he brought Nana all of these candies and cookies from the British import place that we like to go to.  He's working down in that area, and he was so very thoughtful to bring a bag filled with goodies for Nana.  

One funny highlight for Maddie was a stick melee.  With their gear on, the kids were not competing one vs. the other.  It was everyone against everyone else, all at once, and it was super fun.  Madison got a few great hits in, and was typically evasive as opponents tried to get her back.

It was Friday, and the girls were working at home on some gingerbread houses for a future skit at KidPak. They turned out really well!  Mom is keeping the girls busy, two of them now.  I got a few calls from Maddie from home, and it was fun talking to them and seeing the gingerbread houses.

You can see I was working on something when Maddie called on the computer.  Isn't technology amazing?  Don't read the letter I'm working on, as I was still making it up as she called.  It probably doesn't make sense yet, or there might still be grammar to adjust.  I was a long way from finished with that one.

That's what I was working on today, plus a bit of script writing and some other preparation work for this weekend.  I did register Maddie for Forward, and she'll be with the "Icy" Tribe, one of the four tribes competing for the top spot this year.  We're doing a lot of planning for that, of course, and planning for this weekend too.  Lots going on!

Tonight's television included a baby rancor monster on "The Bad Batch," and that was pretty fun.  It's always good to see a Rancor Rampage, right?  Yes.  The answer is yes.  We saw that and the conclusion of the new Mighty Ducks series, which had a great ending.  It really put a message out there about the important of winning over the importance of being a human being.  The hockey action itself might not be as action packed as the movies, but the rest of the show was really fun to watch.  I'm sure we'll be watching it all again.

It rained tonight, and it wasn't too bad.  It looked like it might be bad on the radar, but it turned out to be simply heavy showers, and that's just what we needed.  It cooled things off quite a bit out there too.  

It was a good day.  We closed it up with a bit of reading, and prayers too.  Sleep came easy tonight - I get tired earlier, and that's okay.  I don't stay up late anymore.  We all got to sleep after reading a great chapter of book three, and I got to sleep shortly after that, still doing a bit of work, but getting certain things all wrapped up.  We'll pick up again tomorrow!

Last Day of Middle School

Today was Maddie's last day of Little Mill Middle School.  She had a lot to say about it!  First, there was the walk, of course.  At the end of elementary school, the students parade through the school with the others looking on, and fortunately this year Maddie got to do that with her classmates, walking through the different halls of the middle school, walking past sixth and seventh graders in a little parade through the building.  They put a recording of this online, but despite watching it two times all the way through I couldn't see Maddie because it was such a bad recording.  But that's okay, they meant well.  What's important is that she enjoyed it and it was meaningful for her and the classmates.

It was a short day - there was a school breakfast, and lunch was a funny moment because it was actually the first time that she actually bought her lunch from the cafeteria.  What's funny is that it is the only time she actually ever bought lunch, and it was on the very last day.  So yeah, her first and last time.

The kids were playing Uno for a time, which was fun.  Maddie won one of the games, but it's not about winning of course - it's about fun.  She got an extra grade today, a last minute addition.  She got an A on yet another math test and that brought her grade up to a 93.  So she had a very stellar year, academically.

Speaking of good test results, my blood work came back.  I got a great scores, with the cholesterol dropping considerably.  I've been going to the cardio therapy, speaking of "walks," and this morning's walk was another solid performance.  I did the 5k again, this time with a grade of about 6% at 4 miles per hour, getting it down in about 45 minutes, maybe a little over.  It's still hard work, but each time we're adding elements to keep that heart rate up.  I was around the 130's for a good bit of the walk, and it's been great to be able to actually do that.  Today was my twelfth session, so I'm 1/3 of the way to completion.  We had a bit of a review, and the therapists think I'm doing well.

Mom was doing more gardening today with Nana, adding mulch here or there.  She was out today and got a floor mat for the back deck, one that looks pretty nice.  It's like a carpet in appearance, only it's made of plastic and will do well with the weather.

Tonight we were back to taekwondo, and we were there so Maddie could be an assistant for a time, and then of course join in with the others with leadership.  They're still using the swords, and I'll have to bring the camera tomorrow to take pictures!

Yes, tonight we watched "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."  And because it was the last day of school, with no reason to get up early tomorrow, we watched three episodes in a row.  We're at the tail end of season two, familiar territory, but there were some great episodes here.  We love this show.  Maddie has been enjoying this one for years.

Of course we read tonight, and then we were praying and getting some sleep.  I sleep so much better now. We're especially excited about the fact that we don't have to set an alarm clock for tomorrow morning!

All A's All Three Years

 

Here's Madison today at the Little Mill Awards ceremony, making a brief cameo at the front of the room.  She got yet another A on a math test, and that jumped her final grade point average to a 92 in math.  She got a 99 in social studies, a 95 in language arts, a 97 in physical science, a 98 in Spanish, a 100 in PE, and a 94 in art.  

The end result was all A's for all three years at Little Mill Middle.  She did this on her own.  I mean sure there was help from us, and there were some good teachers.  But she did all the work and she kept it going the whole time.  She did outstanding.

Those above images are screen captures from a virtual awards ceremony, which basically means they had the ceremony earlier today at the school where they filmed it.  Then tonight, they put it online so that all the parents could then see it.  We all sat down to watch it, and did our clapping when Madison went up to receive her award.  She got a certificate, which you can clearly see her holding up, but she also got a medal for academic achievement.

It was a good day today, although another hot one.  No rain this time to cool things off.  I was huffing and puffing this morning at the cardio therapy, going faster than I've gone yet.  Despite some technical issues with the EKG attached to me and a small slowdown at the mid-point, I still managed to eek out 3.14 miles in 45 minutes.  I'm not quite running yet, but I'm doing 4.4-4.5 miles per hour for 45 minutes, and the hope is I can eventually be running this.  I'm doing 5k each day now in about 45, so I'm getting used to the distance and picking up speed slowly.  Eventually, there might be running, and maybe even some day an actual 5k race.  Not that I have any ambitions about winning, or even placing.  It would just be neat to actually be involved.  Some time ago I remember seeing treadmills on a Disney Cruise, and I thought to myself, "Who would do that?"  And now I'm realizing that I would actually be the one to do that!

Anyway, we had one last piano class tonight to go to.  Maddie was doing scales, and got somewhat of a summer assignment, practicing scales and a few of the songs that she's been working on, including "Married Life" and "Victor's Piano Solo."  She's wanting to add "Davy Jones" to the mix, so we'll have to find some good sheet music for that.  We're in a pirating mood all of the sudden.  

In fact, tonight we were back at Disney Infinity again, playing the Stitch game where you have to defend the rubber ducks hidden under clothes baskets from an alien invasion.  Maddie was Stitch, and I chose our crystal Jack Sparrow.  We played that for a few rounds, and then by the time Mom and Nana were joining us in the living room, it was back to an episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."  

Mom has got some good work done in the yard, but not much this afternoon due to the heat.  It's forcing her inside, and that's not a great thing with Nana, who needs something to do all the time or it gets bad.  Tomorrow they'll be out doing a bit of shopping, but for today it's been rough.  It's like that every day, of course.  She mutters all the time about wanting to be with her husband, and goes off to her room crying, or back and forth from the front porch to the back deck with no idea what to do.  We offers options and ask her what she wants to do, but nothing has come up that she wants to do.  So the muttering continues.  Mom and I have been quoting Eleanor from Brave, "A princess doesn't mutter," and using the Scottish accent too.

Okay, moving on.  One more day of school tomorrow.  Madison will be emotional, I'm sure.  But it's still a good mood she's been in, as things have relaxed quite a bit on her workload.  No studying, no recitals, no nothing.  But she's earned a good break though.  

Tonight we were back in "Kingdom Keepers," and we're encountering Gigabyte, a giant snake.  Ew.  Maddie's enjoying the ongoing adventures though, and so we'll probably keep on reading these books.  It's interesting how quickly the parks evolve.  There are all these references to the Wonders of Life pavilion, which I remember visiting.  I'm glad I got to see it before it closed.  I was never a fan of the "Body Wars" ride, although I loved the idea.  It just made me nauseous with the motion.  "Cranium Command" was a fun experience though, and I think it inspired the movie "Inside Out."  Anyway, as I was doing the POV walk through EPCOT the other morning on the treadmill, I noticed the construction around the geodesic dome, and it looks like things are changing yet again.  Life goes on, and that's pretty much what's happening with Maddie too - tomorrow's her last day of Middle School.  Things won't be the same, and of course you miss the old days.  But there are great days coming too.

We said our prayers tonight, and we were genuinely thankful for the day.  It was another good one.

Vogon Poetry

Today was a fun day for Maddie as the school had a big outdoor day, a picnic day outside that was a lot of fun.  There was a lot of goofing around and a lot of fun, and just a nice day outside with her friends, although it got pretty hot out there.  She loved it though, and couldn't wait to tell us all kind of stories of her day, and share pictures she was taking of her friends, "ugly pictures," they called them, which is to say they were pictures taken of each other at odd angles, all of them not ready for the picture to be taken and so on.  She has a gallery of these on her phone now.  Quite a bit different from the fashion shoot the other day!

I was out filming this afternoon for KidPak and yeah, it was hot.  Fortunately, that rain storm came right in and cooled everything off tremendously.  I sat out there and just watched the rain for a while, feeling the wind and listening to the wonderful sounds of summer rain.  We got a lot done in multiple directions, from KidPak to FCY.  Lots going on at the church.

It is Towel Day today, and to celebrate, we watched "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" this evening.  It's been a while since we've seen it, and everyone was enjoying it quite a bit.  Now I want to read the books again, all six of the original trilogy.  We were laughing throughout the movie and remembering different parts.  I read these books in college, of course, and read the series again a few years ago when the new book was added to the mix.

We heard about a Vogon Poetry contest coming up, and inspired by the challenge, I asked Maddie to write some torturously bad poetry.  Here's her "bad poem" that would make the Vogons quite proud.  In fact, here's one of the Vogons reading it right now.

I thought I'd write a bit of bad poetry as well, although it's harder than I thought.  I may not have Madison's gift as a bad poet scribe, but here goes:

Bureaucracy!

a lovely goal

If you can see

a Vogon's soul

burns with desire

for paperwork

but not really on fire

for that won't work

and would be hot

and dumb a lot,

and makes one as confused as a swiftly moving dolphin

that's very confused about something

We read a little tonight, and after that came prayers.  I was exhausted.  It might be the super workouts that I'm doing in the morning, getting the heart rate up much higher to around 144 or so, even going up to 150. At home, I don't go so high, still doing my POV walks through different places.  I was along the Bridal Trail in Central Park, and also a POV walk through of Six Flags over Georgia.  We'll be there in person this Sunday, so it's good to get the lay of the land.

Anyway, we all slept easy tonight, safe from Vogons and interstellar bypasses.

Patriotic Christmas Trees and Patriotic Zombies

I love these plates I saw at Publix.  They've got a picture of a bicycle on them and some flags hanging above, but when turned upside down, they can also be a picture of a patriotic zombie!  We've got two patriotic zombies lined up here, glaring at customers as they pass by.  We generally look for faces in places where there aren't really faces, just as a fun little pastime.  These were ideal.  It looks like some sort of patriotic plate that Tim Burton designed.

Well speaking of bikes, I was on one today.  Did about ten miles.  Of course, I didn't actually go anywhere, but today's work-out was on an exercise bike, as I really messed up my foot last week.  That was essentially the result of walking so far and so fast in a pair of inadequate sneakers not necessary designed for anything like that.  I was limping a bit right after.  SO, today we got out to a sporting goods store, which is undiscovered country for us for the most part.  I mean, we're there every so often for a prop, or maybe even a camping item.  But today, I was there as a customer, and I actually paid more for a pair of shoes than I think I ever have in my life.  I heard from a friend that her running shoes have lasted her a long time, over a decade, and it's because she only wears them when she runs.  So that helped me justify the expense.  These days, it's not uncommon for people to pay a lot of money for a pair of shoes, and while I appreciate shoes as much as the next person, I don't appreciate them that much!  Anyway, we got some shoes.  I'll try them out on the treadmill tomorrow.

Madison got a 96 on her trigonometry test.  She nailed it.  I mean, wow.  That brought her final grade up to a 91, and she was pretty psyched about that.  We got a letter in the mail inviting us to a virtual broadcast of the honors ceremony at the school.  Wednesday morning they'll have the ceremony, and that night we'll watch a broadcast of it online.  We can invite others to watch it too.  So middle school is wrapping up, and in regards to grades, she has gotten all A's for the entire journey through middle school.  That's insanely impressive.  She has friends, is in a club, and has enjoyed middle school very much.  Also, obviously, she's learned a lot.  So we're very happy how things turned out, and we're again so very, very super proud of her.

Tonight, Madison was at taekwondo, and I'm kicking myself because I forgot the camera.  She and the others were in leadership, and they were training with their swords again, which is not Maddie's favorite weapon because it's a little more challenging to use.  It is, however, super cool looking.  I mean, just imagine you're a jedi knight, and you're good to go.  They were doing some sparring after that using combat sticks, and there were flying kicks tonight too.  Madison got a running start and the idea was to do a flying kick at a target up high.  She hit the target, but it was fun watching all the students flying about with legs flailing!

Tonight we watched "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." of course, starting out the back half of season two.  I remember watching this when it aired, and just reliving the wait from week to week.  Maddie's seen these before too, although just like before she didn't have to wait a whole week to find out what happened next, or what was going on.  While that was being watched, I was finishing up on something that we've been talking about doing, and I'm pretty happy to say we finally did it.  It's a patriotic tree!

We have a Christmas tree up in May now, but it's a patriotic themed one, more geared towards Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.  We found these wooden ornaments a few months ago that were essentially Fourth of July decorations, and Mom just recently got some red and white glass ball ornaments that add to it.  We also added the official White House ornaments as well as a nice ribbon and a few mini-flags at the top, plus some bunting at the bottom to make a tree skirt.  I'm thinking we'll do this every year now - it turned out well!

Late to bed, we got in our reading, and then we were off to sleep rather quickly.  It was a good day though!