Book Recommendation – Everyone On this Train is a Suspect

You may remember that I stumbled on Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone last year and I just loved it! You can find my review of it here:

Book Recommendation: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone

I have been waiting a long time for the follow up sequel – Everyone on This Train is a Suspect. Thanks to the good folks at NetGalley and Mariner Books, I was able to read an advance copy of it. It did not disappoint.

The main character of the book is again Ernest Cunningham. In this sequel, he has had great success with his first book (Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone) and comes face to face with some authors who are, well, much better known than he is. Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Ernest Cunningham returns in a deliciously witty locked room (train) mystery.

When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.

The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty: the debut writer (me!), the forensic science writer, the blockbuster writer, the legal thriller writer, the literary writer, and the psychological suspense writer.

But when one of us is murdered, the remaining authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime. Of course, we should also know how to commit one.

How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?

It is just as entertaining as the first book. Ernest will, as he did in the first book, keep you abreast of things that you need to know. He offers up hints as to what is coming, etc. That was one of the things that I loved about the first book.

We see a bit of insecurity in Ernest this time around. He is the newly successful writer who is now among all of these other writers and he feels that he really doesn’t belong. He feels that way because he really didn’t come up with the story he wrote, he just wrote down what he experienced. He didn’t actually come up with the plot. He feels these other authors are way above his level of writing.

Now, his publisher wants another book from him. We learn fairly quickly that he has – nothing. No idea, no story, no nothing! Well, that is until one of the authors is murdered. The events that unfold on the trip come together and wind up being this story.

Once again, I was guessing right up to the end. Benjamin Stevenson does such a wonderful job in keeping you guessing. I love that we get the thoughts of Ernest and how he speaks directly to the reader at times. How it all plays out and how it all comes together is like wrapping a Christmas present – everything falls into place and it is tied up with a nice ribbon on top.

I loved it just as much or more than his first book. I truly hope that there might be another book in the future. I enjoyed this so much!

Thanks again to Net Galley and Mariner books for allowing me to read such a wonderful mystery!

Holiday Hipness!

Today I feature a holiday song that you may not have heard before. As a matter of fact, it may be the ginchiest Christmas song you’ve ever heard.

Huh? What is “ginchiest?” Well, back in the late 50’s and early 60’s it was a slang word that means “Cool. Hip. Admired by others.” All the hep cats were using this beatnik slang during that time. One TV show that featured a lot of this slang was 77 Sunset Strip.

Edd Byrnes played Kookie on the show and his conversations were sprinkled with words and phrases like: Baby, Baller, Gasser, Crazy, Dig, Flat Top, Flip your lid, Jazzed, Keen, Like wow, Nifty, Off the hook, Pinned, Rumble, and SO many more! (Younger folks remember him from the Movie Grease. He was the emcee Vince Fontaine at the Dance Contest.)

In 1959, Kookie and Connie Stevens had a hit with “Kookie, Kookie Lend Me Your Comb.” Because you know, it was all about the hair!

That same year, Kookie presented his own version of the Night Before Christmas. I’ve always loved this little two minute tune. While it is mostly spoken, I always get lost in the background music. I think it is so cool.

The beatnik slang often added, “sville” to words. Boresville would be someplace boring. Antsville might be a place where there were so many people that they were packed in like ants. So I suppose it is only appropriate that Kookie’s holiday song is called “Yulesville.”

Yulesville

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the pad,

Not a hep cat was swingin’ and that’s nowhere, dad.

The stove was hung up in that stocking routine,

Like maybe the fat man would soon make the scene.

The kids had fell by and soon made the street.

I was ready for Snoresville, man, was I beat.

When there started a rumble that came on real frantic.

So I opened the window to figure the panic.

I saw a slick ride that was making fat tracks,

Souped up by eight ponies all wearing hat racks

And a funny old geezer was flippin’ his lid.

He told them to make it, and man, like they did!

They were outta the chute making time like a bat

Turning the quarter in 8 seconds flat.

He parked by the smoke stack in bunches and clusters,

Till Chubby slid down, coming on like Gangbusters

His threads were from Cubesville and I had to chuckle

In front, not in back, was his Ivy League buckle.

The mop on his chin hit a button down collar.

And with that red nose, dad, he looked like a baller

Like he was the squarest, the most absolute.

But let’s face it huh, who cares when he left all that loot.

He laid the jazz on me and peeled from the gig.

Wailin’ “Have a cool yule, man. Later. Like, dig?”

Oh, and you might need the above book to get the gist of the lingo!

Have a Cool Yule, Man!

Book Recommendation – And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

What a powerful and moving story. This short novella has all of the heart and emotion of Fredrik Backman’s full length stories. I found myself lost in this beautiful book.

My great grandmother had dementia. My grandmother had dementia. It is a terrible disease. I remember going to see her the last time and her not really knowing who I was. With Alzheimer’s and dementia, they call it “the long goodbye.” It is a very difficult thing to deal with for both those who have it and those they love.

Here is the Goodreads synopisis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, and Britt-Marie Was Here comes an exquisitely moving portrait of an elderly man’s struggle to hold on to his most precious memories, and his family’s efforts to care for him even as they must find a way to let go.

With all the same charm of his bestselling full-length novels, here Fredrik Backman once again reveals his unrivaled understanding of human nature and deep compassion for people in difficult circumstances. This is a tiny gem with a message you’ll treasure for a lifetime.

The “goodbye” and how to handle it is what drives this powerful story. I listened to the audio book, but want to go buy a physical copy just to highlight some of the content. For example:

“Almost all grown adults walk around full of regret over a good-bye they wish they’d been able to go back and say better.”

“Those who hasten to live are in a hurry to miss,”

“It’s about fear and love, and how they seem to go hand in hand most of the time.”

The relationship between this grandfather and Noah (Noahnoah), his grandson reminds me of my relationship with my grandfather. I didn’t want to lose him.

“Why are you holding my hand so tight, Grandpa?” the boy whispers
again.
“Because all of this is disappearing, Noahnoah. And I want to keep hold
of you longest of all.”

“Noahnoah, promise me something, one very last thing: once your good-bye is perfect, you have to leave me and not look back. Live your life. It’s an awful thing to miss someone who’s still here.”

One of the most amazing exchanges in the book:

“Our teacher made us write a story about what we want to be when we’re big,” Noah tells him.
“What did you write?”
“I wrote that I wanted to concentrate on being little first.”
“That’s a very good answer.”
“Isn’t it? I would rather be old than a grown-up. All grown-ups are angry, it’s just children and old people who laugh.”
“Did you write that?”
“Yes.”
“What did your teacher say?”
“She said I hadn’t understood the task.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said she hadn’t understood my answer.”

The audio book look just over and hour to listen to. I would imagine you could read the novella in just one sitting. It is truly an amazing story. I highly recommend it.

A Proud Son

I waited until he posted about this first, and now I want to share it with you. It brought me to tears.

First, let me say the pride a father feels in his children. The father-son bond is a special one. All too often, we lose sight of the pride that a son has for their father. Our dad is our hero. He is our role model. He is a teacher and giver of advice. My dad is all of that to me and more.

I have written about my dad and his time in the army here before. He was in Vietnam. I didn’t learn till I was older all the things he went through there and back home. When I came to partially understand those things, I felt more pride for him than ever. Well, that pride grew a bit more this weekend.

Let me let my dad tell you what happened. Here is his Facebook post:

Yesterday after around 11:15 am, a car pulled up in front of my house it had QOV on the door of the car. I had no idea what this was about. She came to the door and Rose opened it her name was Lynn Lebeck and she asked for me. So I came out to the front room and in her hand she had what looked like a flag inside of it was a quilt. This organization is the Quilts of Valor. Rose nominated me for my service in Vietnam. I was chosen to receive this quilt after they reviewed information about my service. When she pulled it out of the case I was without words, Rose broke out in tears and hugged me and said “Welcome Home, Sam”. I almost lost it, and told her and Lynn, that I felt I didn’t deserve this. Lynn said “you are so wrong Sam.” Rose found out about this organization because I did a Veterans Day presentation twice at our Elementary School.

What a tremendous honor for my dad! He has often told me that he was “just doing my duty.” He is quite humble, as many veterans are. His service to our country is nothing to take lightly, in my opinion. He deserves to be recognized for it (as do ALL veterans)!

This quilt is just beautiful and will forever be treasured by my dad and our family. How awesome to think of the work it took to produce it and the love that is behind every stitch!

I have never heard of this organization. If I had, I most certainly would have nominated him for it. I am glad that Rose did and that he was chosen to receive one of these amazing quilts.

Rose is not one who likes her picture on the internet, but know that before it was cropped, she is standing proud next to me dad as he wears his quilt of valor.

I am so proud to be my father’s son. Dad, I love you and I am happy that your service was recognized. Thank you for all that you have done for me, my family, and our country.

If you know of a veteran who is deserving of this honor, you can submit a nomination at their website:

https://www.qovf.org/

Turntable Talk 21 – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Once again, Dave Ruch from A Sound Day has offered up an interesting topic for this month’s Turntable Talk. I see it as being a way for each of us writers to offer you a bit of ourselves. I mean, any time I write something, it usually has something that gives the reader a glimpse at who I am. In some blogs I read, there are a lot of facts and not much of the author. I’ve come to “know” many of the participants through their past submissions, but this month I feel we’re going to get a bit more personal.

This month, Dave presented us with the following instructions:

It’s almost time for Christmas dinner (even if you aren’t necessarily prone to celebrating Christmas, play along) and there’s one more seat at the table. Because of the magic that is Christmas, you can invite any one musician (or person from the music world) to be your guest. Even if they’ve passed away, they can be at your table for a meal, and a few stories. So, who would you invite? And any little musical gift you hope they might possibly come with?

As with past topics, one possibility jumped out immediately. I decided to think a bit more before I made that final decision. Oh! The list of names that I came up with! It was a long one that included Elvis Presley, Mel Torme’, Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, Roy Orbison, Doc Severinsen, Louis Prima, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Reba McEntire, Michael Buble’, and so many more! In the end, I stuck with the first name that came to mind – Dean Martin.

To this day, Dean remains my favorite singer. His laid back, carefree, and effortless approach is part of the charm that makes him so likable to me. So many of his songs hold special memories for me.

I imagine him showing up dressed to the nines in his staple tuxedo, knowing he is the guest of honor. However, I also picture him as a humble man who gets along with everyone.

Naturally, on Christmas I’d make the dish that was always served by my grandma – Ravioli. I’d be sure to make the homemade sauce for him. I’d always seen pictures of him and John Wayne eating pasta together. I’d love to hear those stories.

I feel like we could easily talk about the similarities between his folks and my grandparents (both from the old country). I know he was a fairly private guy, but I would enjoy hearing his stories about growing up in that Italian family.

The conversation would naturally turn to music. I’d have so many questions for him. The recording process has always fascinated me. On some of the newer releases they’d include some of the in between take studio chatter. Dean always seemed to be joking around and I bet he’d have some great stories about that.

Not to mention all the stars he personally knew and hung out with. I bet he could have wrote a book full of Sinatra stories! If you look back on the guests who were on his TV show, on the TV roasts, or actors who were in movies with him – it is truly an amazing group. How could he just pick one or two stories to tell when he knew so many people!?

I certainly wouldn’t want to pressure him, but I think it would be very cool to be sitting around the table and for him to give us a few measures of a Christmas song. I remember watching how people often just sang with each other back in the day. Would Dean duet with me on Marshmallow World? Who knows?

As someone who really stinks up the golf course, I’d probably bug Dean for a few golf tips. He was SO good at it, I’m sure just one little piece of advice on my grip, my stance or my swing would help me tremendously!

I’m not sure what musical gift I would hope for him to bring, but I would certainly love to get my hands on one of two things. He once had his own brand of golf balls! I’d never use them, of course, but I would love to have a box!

I would also like to have a bottle of his spirits. At one time he had a few types of his own booze!

I don’t really drink, but I think it would be awesome to have these sitting on a bar.

I suppose I’d only have one more request – a photo with him. That may be pushing the limits, so I might just have to have the camera lying around so that someone could snap some candids of the the two of us together.

I’m sure he’d be the one to want to cut the evening short. “Look, pallie, I’d love to stay and answer all your questions, but I have a 7 o’clock tee time in the morning ….” I’d totally be ok with that.

Thanks to Dave for a great topic! I cannot wait to read the guests that our other writers come up with!

How about you? Who would you picki?

Wishing you and yours a VERY Merry Christmas and a blessed 2024!

Our Yearly Christmas Tradition

Today’s blog is part of the Comfy Cozy Christmas, hosted by Lisa and Erin. Their blogs/websites can be found in the above graphic. By going to their sites, you will be able to read Christmas themed blogs by other participants.

I have probably mentioned in past blogs about this tradition, but have never devoted an entire blog to it. At the encouragement of one of our hosts, I am doing that now.

If you were to do a search on ‘things to do when visiting Michigan,” it is often recommended that you stop by Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. The world’s largest Christmas store.

It truly is an amazing place. You could easily spend a few hours there finding the perfect Christmas ornament. We are lucky that we don’t live very far from there.

Our tradition was actually started by Sam before we were even dating. She and I do the same work (sleep technologist) and that’s how we met. When she graduated from the program, she bought an ornament for her tree. There are no real “sleep tech” ornaments, so she went with one that had scrubs on it.

The idea was that she wanted to have an ornament on the tree that was a reminder of the “big event” of that year. The following year was the year that she bought the home we currently live in.

Sam and I were just friends when she bought her house. Soon after, we began dating and fell in love. She changed my life and I couldn’t imagine life without her. I proposed Sweetest Day weekend while in a horse drawn carriage in Frankenmuth. She said yes less than a mile or so from Bronner’s! That year’s “event” was our engagement.

It goes without saying that when we were married a few months later, that was to be the big event of that year. There were plenty of wedding themed ornaments, but we liked this one best.

The bigger bulbs like that make it so easy for them to personalize.

Our first year of marriage brought about our first fur baby. A cat that sadly is no longer with us named Moe.

We’ve talked about getting some sort of ornament with the other pets, but each year after had bigger events. At some point I suppose we’ll get around to it…

In 2019, Sam was expecting. She was 7 months pregnant at Christmas. One of my favorite pictures is of her standing in front of the tree showing her baby bump. I just loved the “You, Me and Then Baby Makes Three” ornament.

The year 2020 brought COVID to the world. The world shut down and almost every Christmas tree had some sort of ornament that had surgical masks or toilet paper on it! For us, however, we welcomed our first child together, our daughter Ella.

I loved this ornament because they were able to put her name, birthday, weight, etc.. on it. One Christmas later, when Andrew was born, we went back and got the same ornament… In blue.

We try to go before Thanksgiving to get our yearly ornament. After that, it tends to be extremely busy at Bronner’s. When we went last year, there really hadn’t been any “big event.” We decided to get a plaque to hang on the main entry door.

After our trip to Bronner’s, tragedy struck as Sam’s sister Grace passed away. Her presence is missed daily. I decided that I wanted to do something for Sam and her parents. So I went to Bronner’s on my own and had a memorial ornament personalized with Grace’s name for both of them. Ours hangs near the top of the tree.

We’re a bit behind this year. We’ve had so many medical appointments and such with Andrew that we have yet to go to Bronner’s. I suppose the big event is getting our puppy, Daisy. I would imagine that they have some sort of ornament that will fit that event.

Sam and I will probably take our tradition and change it up a bit next year. I’d guess we’ll continue to get that one “event” ornament, but we think next year, we’ll have each kid pick out an ornament for themselves to hang on the tree. I have a feeling that will be something they will always remember.

I’d love to hear about your annual traditions!

Learning a Holiday Lesson

There is a great lesson that can be learned from the conversion of Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. However, there is SO much more to the story! As you know, I have been reading this story every year since 1982. You would think that after all these years, I would have learned all that there is from this story, but that’s just not true.

While surfing through Facebook recently, an ad appeared for Hillsdale College. They offer free online courses on many topics. This particular ad was for an online course on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

I figured there had to be some sort of catch to this, but there wasn’t any. They are able to provide these course free because of donations and such, but there was no pressure to give money or anything like that. This course, for example, allows you to make a decent donation to obtain a copy of the book, if you wish.

At any rate, I just finished up this course, which consisted of 6 lectures. Each lecture varied in length and were no longer than an hour. After each lecture, there was a quiz of 8-10 questions and a final exam (consisting of questions from the previous tests). You have to complete the lecture and quiz before moving to the next lecture.

The professor who taught the course was very good. He mentioned things that I have overlooked while reading and brought out some really neat points. This course truly allowed me to see this amazing tale in a whole new light. Some things were so obvious, I don’t know how I ever missed the connection.

I had already done my yearly read of the book when I discovered this course, so it was fresh in my mind. Let me encourage you to take advantage of this if you are looking to get into the holiday spirit. It is easily something that you could do in a day or two. You can read more about it or enroll (and do it on your own time) by going to their website:

https://online.hillsdale.edu/courses/christmas-carol

If you do enroll and finish the course, I would love to hear what you thought!

I Played Secretary Today

We have such wonderful neighbors. Every year one of them puts out a mailbox for kids to drop off letters to Santa. They then answer them. Last year, they wrote such a precious letter to Ella and Andrew.

They posted on the neighborhood Facebook page that the mail box was out and awaiting letters. I’d been meaning to sit and write Ella and Andrew’s for a couple days, but never got to do it. This morning, Ella was up first and we were sitting on the couch together. I asked her if she was ready to write her letter and she said yes!

I grabbed a pen and paper and asked her to tell me what to say to Santa. (More on that in a minute.) She kept me very busy and I had to write pretty fast. After I sealed up the letter, we grabbed the dog and we walked to the mailbox!

As we walked the block or so to the house, they each had to hold the letter for a bit. It was funny how many times it changed hands.

When we arrived, Andrew wanted to put the letter in the box. He couldn’t quite get it into the slot, so it was probably pretty crinkled when it finally made it to the bottom of the box.

They were both happy to finally get it in there and cannot wait for Santa to read it!

Now for your enjoyment – the letter:

Dear Santa,

I love you and I really love you until you come. I also love Mrs. Santa. My daddy is writing for me because he writes good for me.

For Christmas I really want a big princess castle for my Barbies and my Little People to fit in. For Bubby (my brother, Andrew) he wants trains. He loves to share. He loves you, too. Sometimes he is mean, but he loves me.

I think my daddy would like a big bike with big wheels and a big seat because he is bigger than me. My mommy’s favorite color is yellow, so maybe you can bring her some yellow paint or something. She loves to color and draw with me and Bubby.

Our cat Maizey could get new kitty litter. Mowgli (the other cat) bites a lot, so he should get a squeaky toy maybe. They really really love food and water. Our puppy, Daisy, could get a new elephant squeaky toy because she ate the other one. I asked her if she likes you – I think she said “yeah.” You can’t bring her chocolate because mommy and daddy say that it will give really bad stomach aches to her.

This is a lot of letters and words. I hope you can read all of them. I know you like cookies and milk, so I will put some out for you. We are missing snow, so please bring snow and snowballs.

Thank you for everything you do!

Love,

Ella and Andrew

Priceless!

Trivia Break …

Last night, our company had our monthly meeting/holiday get together. We began with presentations from some of our equipment representatives. That was followed by a presentation from one of our docs. We then had dinner which was followed by my trivia game and the final presentations.

In my opinion, the questions were fairly easy, but some folks had issues with a few. I did two rounds of 10 questions each. The point values went from 1 to 2 to 3 to 5. At the end, the totals of both rounds were figured and the team with the most points won gift cards from Starbucks.

I thought folks had fun with it and many coworkers complimented me on the game. So, because I haven’t really had a whole lot of time to do any other writing, I thought I’d share them with you. So grab a glass of egg nog, your Santa hat, and take a stab at the questions – NO CHEATING!

The answers will be in the comments … (Be sure to let me know how you do!)

Holiday Trivia Round One

Three 1 point questions (Food and Drink):

The earliest recipe for one of these goes back to ancient Rome and contained pine nuts, raisins, and a barley mash.
The red and white costume of Santa Claus was allegedly first introduced by which drink manufacturer?
This milk-based beverage comes in both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic type and it is said that George Washington had his own special recipe for it.

Three 2 point questions (Holiday Movies):

4. Buddy the Elf mentions that there are four main food groups that elves like to stick to. Name two of them. (Bonus points for all four!)

5. Cleveland Street, Warren G. Harding School, and Higbees Department store are all settings in this Holiday favorite.

6. In National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Clark Griswold is going to use his Christmas bonus check to buy one of these.

Three 3 point questions (Most Popular Toy):

7. In 1945, this toy walked downstairs and continues to be popular today.

8. These were available for “adoption” in 1983 and 1984

9. Action figures from this 1977 movie were a steal at $2.79 each in 1978!

One question – 5 possible points (Musical “F” Words):

10. Write the “F” word that completes the line from these holiday hits:

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me three ___ hens
______ me in merry measure
…we all will be together, if the _____ allow
To ____ unafraid, the plans that we made.
…words of good cheer, from everywhere _____ the air

Holiday Trivia Round 2

Three 1 point questions (Winter Holidays – not Christmas):

You don’t need gloves for this Canadian Holiday on December 26.
Hanukkah is the festival of lights. A menorah has this many candles.
This West Coast state was the first to celebrate Kwanzaa.

Three 2 point questions (Holiday songs):

4. Mommy was seen kissing Santa Claus here.

5. In The Chipmunk Song, this is what Alvin wants for Christmas. (Bonus point – name the parenthetical title of this song)

6. Ben, Janice, Barney, and Jen are the four children named in this Holiday Hit.

Three 3 point questions (Christmas Specials):

7. Hermey isn’t happy as an Elf. He would much rather work in this medical profession.

8. The Grinch and his dog are set to steal Christmas from the folks in this town. (Bonus Point – What is the name of the dog?)

9. These two weather controlling “step brothers” are the real stars of 1974’s The Year Without a Santa Claus. Name them.

One question – 5 possible points (What is their name):

10. Identify each Holiday Character

We never needed to use the tie-breaker questions, so for YOU they are bonus questions.

Holiday Trivia Tie Breakers

This popular holiday song was written during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was a plea for peace.
How many ghosts visit Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol?
This Christmas classic was written in the mid-19th century by a man who experienced a bout of homesickness while living in Savannah, Georgia. Though debated, some believe it was originally written for a church Thanksgiving program.

Check your answers below and post your final score! Hope you had fun!

A Wild Night of Lights

The Family and I had the opportunity to go to the Detroit Zoo for their Wild Lights this weekend. Sam and I used to go every year. The last time we went she was VERY pregnant with Ella.

We figured this year they were both old enough to enjoy the lights. While the weather was wet and rainy, the temperature was perfect. It was about 45, so we weren’t too cold.

The temperature was a positive, but so was the rain in that it was not too busy. We could casually walk and not feel like we were being rushed. We also had great views of everything. Short lines were a plus for some things.

One negative the rain brought about was that not all of the lights were lit. I’m not really sure why. The rain wasn’t going to hurt any of it. If I had not been there before, I may not have even noticed. There were enough lights for us to enjoy and some new featured sections.

There was a section called something like “Underwater Enchanted Garden” that has lots of blue/green lights to represent water. There were areas with lotus flowers, light up fishes, huge whale lights, penguins and more. It was very cool. At the end of that section, you had to walk through a building where a guitar player and drummer were jamming some blues/jazz tunes. You could also get a coffee or snack there.

They had a cool area with these LED seesaws for the kids. Neither kid has ever been on a seesaw before, but it was obvious just how much they loved it!

That train behind the seesaw was something you could walk through. They also had like a plane you could go up in. There was no shortage of photo opportunities along the walk.

I am always amazed at some of the light displays they have. Some of the animals are spectacular. Look at this giant teddy bear!

My favorites had to be the foxes. These are so neat up close, but more amazing as you walk towards them.

I just love looking at Christmas lights. We all do. I am always so impressed with the displays. Kudos to those who spend the hours and days to make this happen

We usually don’t get the “staged” photos when we are there. They are usually expensive and there is always a wait to get them done. Due to the weather, however, we were able to walk right up and get a family photo in a sleigh that came out fairly nice.

What you may not be able to tell is that the cushion we were sitting in was wet. So we walked the zoo in wet underwear! Worth every second!

I hope now that the kids are older, we will do this every year!