Christmas in Columbus

Spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in Columbus with the Collins kin. What a treat! Sam was sad to leave, which says it all.

Which isn't to say that he was a widdle angel the whole time, heavens no. He's four, and from my experience with his friends of the same age, he's not atypical in his willfulness. But he did well for dinner at Aunt Carol's (a very enjoyable evening, and we were concerned about that)--at least til the end, and that was a fine time for him to lose it, to provide a measure of contrast for the rest of the evening. :-) He also sat well through the marathon fauXmas gift-opening celebration quite well.

This visit bore plenty of the jewel of family visits--free babysitting! Sue, Mom, Amy all were happy to help out, and Sam enjoyed it all immensely: Dad reading with him and showing him the newly renovated electric train set, and for the first time really connecting on some level with Kevin, once he learned what a pro Kevin is at video games. Kevin was happy to have an admirer, and for Sam, who's never had access to video games, it was a treat just to watch Kevin work his magic.

Enjoy the movies! The drive home is usually seven hours, but turned into nine because of a blizzard which started around Cleveland and lasted into New York. The core of the storm was in Pennsylvania. Just after entering the state we were shunted off the throughway onto side roads which took us through what I imagine must be the less photogenic parts of Erie. The video is just after entering New York. It's hard to see, but the snow's still coming down, though not quite as bad as in Penn.

The snow was quite beautiful. Temps in the teens and strong winds--the drifts made many houses looked like they'd been abandoned, though I am sure the residents were just holed up inside.

A great visit--can't wait for the next one! Nor can Sam--who, it should be pointed out, also keeps asking when we are going to visit Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul...

Random quote from the way back

"When it's dark at South Dakota, does that mean it's light at our town?"