zone defense: December 2015

december 22nd - this day is a blur

Uncle Frank and Amy came into Philly today and the adults spent an entire day of drinking and eating. Jackie and Grandmom Burger watched the kids, so it was on like donkey kong. We went to the oyster house for lunch and to bistrot la minette. Lots of fun.

december 21st - mommy bakes

Alex finished out his school year with a fun day at the park. Mommy spent the day baking cookies so we all benefitted from some evening snacking on our favorites.

december 20th - alex zooms

Alex went ice skating for the first time EVER today with his buddy Drew and he had a blast. The first time around, we took it slow, but then we went "very very fast" according to Alex. He did such a great job skating with daddy and he did it on his own hockey skates. Even Gemma went for a spin around the rink with daddy and smiled the entire time...at least until snack time and then she found a seat:)

december 19th - gemma's day

Cherry Hill mall has an entire "seeing santa" experience that almost made Gemma's head explode. Her obsession with Shrek competes very closely with Alex's obsession with Santa, so it was a magical day. First, we went to Nordstrom's for the kids to have their feet measured and get new shoes. Alex picked out the brightest red sneakers on earth but had to settle for blue and green because they didn't have his size. Gemma, however, made the PURPLE suede boots that she picked out fit. Even if it kills her, those boots were hers.

When it was our turn to see Santa, the kids learned to fly a sleigh, made a digital gingy, and we got an IMAX experience that took us all the way to the North Pole. This thing is put on by Disney so it meant 1) the ride was legit, with wind and the whole nine yards 2) it costs as much as feeding a small family for a month. We got some personal time with Santa, and Gemma pushed Alex up to sit on his lap. She did not want any part of it...but did keep him abreast of her continuing desire for a baby doll.

After seeing Santa, we drove to Millersville for the pre-Christmas family dinner. Alex brought Candyland that Jackie gave him for Christmas and we played 100 times. Dinner turned into lunch since we all gathered around the island eating turkey all afternoon while it was being carved. Alex and Gemma had fun during the actual dinner playing with all the kids (and a suspicious baby).

december 18th - corporate mixer

We had our annual corporate holiday party with Jackie, Fred, and Emily this evening. It has been a holiday tradition the past three years, where we get together and go out for dinner (and each year there is another child with us). The kids helped Emily open her present whether she liked it or not. Jackie made Gemma a scarf, which she wears very proudly.

She is so funny...Gemma is anti-Daddy right now, but when she gets pretty clothes she still has to show Daddy immediately:) We went to Cucina Forte and all the kids did great. Alex and Gemma mostly so they could have chocolate cake!

Alex says "daddy take a picture of my funny tongue"...the fact that he is on the toilet taking a dump does not factor in for him in the least.

december 17th - keeping them in line

december 16th - stay out of her way

Poor baby has a fever today and is not feeling very well. The Gemma attitude always gets taken up a notch when she is under the weather, so we are in for quite a treat. That cute little face is very deceiving...her hat is hiding her devil horns.

december 15th - QWERTY skillz

Alex is gaining skills to prepare himself for the workforce. For the past couple nights he has been saying "daddy, can I borrow your white computer so I can do some work?" He practices typing his name over and over and is up to about 10 words per hour. He already knows how to use return, changes font colors, backspace, spacebar, and understands the need for a period at the end of ALEX B.

december 14th - non-denominational crafting

december 13th - margaritas and sunshine

Special christmas tree pancakes for santa's little helper, running some holiday errands, and a nice al fresco lunch at the cantina. Spring weather in December is making life easy.

december 12th - a very furry (and special) christmas

The annual Christmas date with Sesame Place today. One key difference from last year was the fact that it is now 70° and there were about 700% more people there, which made it difficult to move around. Mommy officially re-designed her own methods of crowd control in her head given she was a disgruntled customer:) The Burger clan did, however, manage to get the royal treatment because we know a guy (or a girl inside a guy).

We went to the holiday song and dance show, which the kids LOVED. Alex even went up on stage...lots of other kids were going up before the show, so Alex whispered in Daddy's ear..."daddy if I go up on stage, will you take a picture of me." Hilarious!

After the show, Cookie Monster brought out his friends for our kids to meet the characters one on one. Gemma almost lost it when she saw Abby Cadabby. Alex wanted nothing to do with anyone except Cookie Monster. It took a bit of explaining to the kids why they are so special and got to meet the characters...they just think it is part of the show and don't realize that the thousands of other kids are just dollar signs!

december 11th - the mollers

Cousin Shara got married tonight so the kids spent the evening at Beeps and Grandpa's while Mommy and Daddy did adult stuff. Of course, they ate cookies. Spent some quality time with Grandpa...Alex was very excited to tell us that Grandpa let them use markers. I was assured..."he watched us."

december 10th - school days

Alex's first semester (or whatever pre-schools have) is winding down in the lead up to the holidays. It was a rocky first couple days, but he quickly decided that he loves school, learning, and hanging with his buddies....if only this enthusiasm could carry him through the next 20 years. Very proud of him. Hopefully he passes his finals.

december 9th - big al

december 8th - baby steps

Mommy is out of town tonight so we had romper room in the basement. We talked to the kids about how interior demolition started happening, so they started taking turns operating the bull dozer to practice for when the real thing goes down.

december 7th - tracing buddies

december 6th - daddy sunday

Alex and Gemma ran errands with daddy all morning around the neighborhood. Everywhere they went people gave them cookies, so it was a supercharged adventure.

december 5th - christmas joy

Today was our breakfast with Santa and both kids were super excited to let the big guy know what they want for Christmas. Alex even brought a torn out page from his toy catalogue so he could be sure Santa knows exactly what he wants...and doesn't get some bobo version of his "yellow crane." Gemma brought a page too, but she didn't get to it. She was petrified to go within Santa's wingspan so she just shouted "baby" when Santa asked what she wanted. After our personal visit with Saint Nick we got our own carriage ride around Logan Square with a horse named Chipper.

As if we did not get enough overload on holiday cheer at breakfast, we drove up to Newtown for the Shady Brook Farms holiday light show. They have over 5 million lights and it was quite a racket. Alex and Gemma loved it because we pulled over and let them climb up front as we drove through. Alex repeatedly said he "very liked" the lights throughout...with an occasional yank on the steering wheel to help daddy drive.

december 4th - mazeltov

Alex had his Hanukah show today at school so we all went to see his performance. Although he has been practicing he was not really trying to steal the show. He is a little too much like daddy to break out his jazz hands and hit the high notes. He did, however, get pretty chummy with a couple lady friends. Gemma was not sure how to respond to dradle songs, so she just acted out by flashing everyone.