The end of year 2011 holidays were unusually jam-packed - all to the good.
(See pictures in the album in the left column - AAAHolidays 2011)
Martha Boyd came to Fort Worth December 20-23. We toured Fort Worth sights, including the magical trees created by Chesapeake Energy on the Pier One campus.
Martha joined Mother and me in tracking down the headstones for Mother's maternal great-grandparents, Belle and Thomas Presley, at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Belle was descended from Revolutionary War soldier and Virginia farmer Reuben Pound.
On Christmas Eve, the day after Martha flew back to Chicago, Rob and Maren Jenkins flew in from Chicago with Michael (5) and Juniper (3 1/2).
This was the first time Mother and I had been able to share Christmas with the little kids, so we were thrilled (and I went a bit overboard on presents). For them, Santa only puts gifts in stockings, which mitigates materialistic madness.
We visited our favorite haunts:
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (saw a great holidaze laser show in the planetarium there).
Richard Serra's "Vortex" sculpture outside the Modern Museum. We call it the Scream Tower because we go inside and make a lot of noise to hear the echoes.
The Fort Worth Water Garden. The kids go deep inside the pool and climb high up on the "mountain."
Mexican food on Joe T. Garcia's patio, with obligatory exploration of the restaurant's many gardens.
And a nice long visit to the Chesapeake trees, including a stroll down the avenue of lights.
Otherwise we played, read stories and watched movies at home, where the kids were busy little artists.
Before they left, Michael and Juniper were happy to see the lollipop tree had once again "produced." A boxwood in the back yard mysteriously bears lollipops when young children visit. And so it will again, and again, I hope.
