Christmas in Clare

Dad and Cindy's House, upon arrival. . .

What's up, Internet.

Well, for those of you out there who have been keeping tabs on this here blog of ours over the years, you know that the day after Christmas, for nearly every year in recent memory, has been devoted to my Dad's side of the family in Clare.  This year, despite the raging pandemic, we managed to keep this tradition alive, with our family joining my step-sister Jill's (The Whites) in closing out the Holidays with Dad and Cindy.

Check it out. . .

We made it to Clare shortly before noon, having picked up Cindy's catering from Qdoba on our way out of Midland.  When we got settled in, we set about opening up gifts (before the Whites rolled in.)  Dad wanted to give the kids a small combo gift first, which he had personally picked out for them - the card game, Exploding Kittens.

Unfortunately, we've already own this game for, like, three years (as you can tell by the girls' faces here), so we ultimately decided to donate the game to the family Lakehouse instead.

Thanks anyway, Papa.

This gift right here, however, totally made Abby's Christmas.  This is an Echo Show 8 - a slightly larger version of the one Kris got me yesterday - and is one of the main things Abby was asking for this year.  She was pretty bummed after not getting one on Christmas Morning (and especially after seeing me open mine), even though she tried to play it cool, so the fact that she finally opened one up here was awesome.

The Cannonball opens up a light-up alarm clock/bluetooth speaker.

Tearing into another gift (forget what this one was.)

We always let the girls go first - gives us time to drink mimosas and take pictures and crap.

Dad and Cindy picked out a candle for Kris (she's a big fan of smelly crap.)

Some phallic imagery on the lid.  Nothing gay about that at all.

A Paris-themed door cover for her Paris-themed bedroom.

Cindy hauls out a big one for the Mrs.

Kris, mid-crapping her pants.

A Ninja Coffee Maker.  We've had our existing Braun since, like, 2006 (it was off our Wedding Registry), and while that one is a definite workhorse, we've been wanting something new (Kris more than I, but she's more of a coffee snob than I am.)

A happy camper.

Alayna scored a new phone case and finger ring for her phone, along with a gift card - she appreciates the shopping experience, for sure.

We picked up Cindy a couple different items from that Secret Garden store that Kris and every other mom in our friend group is obsessed with.  After browsing around the store for a couple hours, we realized that she would like practically everything in there, so we just pulled the trigger on a gift card instead.

Got her a necklace and some hand towels, too.

More coffee gifts for Kris - a set of coffee mugs and some house blend coffee from Cops and Doughnuts Clare City Bakery.

We got Dad a Detroit Lions flag and adjustable flag pole for the Lakehouse (erred on the side of caution, we weren't sure if he'd like a Trump flag.)

(I just wrapped the Amazon box - way easier.)

After everyone else opened up their gifts, the designated family photographer finally got to open his.  I've been wanting this soundtrack since first seeing the movie a year or so ago - such a great mix of '60s deep cuts.

They also got me a 10W Fender amp for my new tenor uke.

(Call me crazy, but I think I'm gonna buy some distortion pedals to further play around with this setup.)

They also got me this portable Victrola Turntable, which is compact enough for travel but still able to play 45s, 33s, and 78s (not that I have any 78s, but still.)

I wanted something like this for when I go traveling to visit friends across state, and pop into thrift and/or record stores to buy vinyl (something I try and do whenever I travel.)  It'd be nice to be able to test out my new treasures on the road, for sure.  That, and to be able to take places where I otherwise don't have access to my own turntable (such as, say, down in my office in the Captain's Quarters.)

After opening up the last of our gifts with Dad and Cindy, we set about devouring the Qdoba catering we brought along with us, and I poured myself one of my all-time, favorite Holiday beers. . .

Trying to set up Abby's new Echo Show 8.

Cleaning up the living room

The Whites arrived as we set into the food with a vengeance.  Here's a couple of moms, cluckin' it up.

This is one of Cindy's greatest Holiday ideas ever, and one that we've put into play for the last few years.  For the same price as it would cost to fund an entire meal for our extended family, Cindy can order a spread of Qdoba and cut out the hours and hours she'd otherwise spend in the kitchen.  Plus, since we're leaving Midland anyway, we can pick it up on our way out so no one else has to make a trip out to go and grab it.  Everybody wins.

They only gave us half the rice this year, so we had to ration it out accordingly.  I pretended I was eating healthy by putting pounds of meat and cheese over lettuce.  You know, 'cause salad.

(Probably talking about boats.)

Still cluckin'

The Whites - and our girls - tear into the gift exchange.

More Christmas chaos.

Captive audience.

Parents' Tree

Getting more food (why not, it's Qdoba. . .)

Time for another great, Holiday beer. . .

Once their older cousins vacated the table, the girls pounced on their opportunity to play some Ping-Pong.

Once again, Zooming/Face-timing/whatever with Uncle Chris and his weird-ass family. . .

Samwise, showing off for the camera

We left Clare around 5pm, and began the long, arduous process of putting away our new presents and picking up the house carnage from the last couple of days.  Afterwards, I made sure to spend some time screwing around with my new setup (which sounds f***ing phenomenal.)

And, to round out the evening, we decided to throw in my all-time, second-favorite Holiday movie, A Muppet Family Christmas, on the basement projector.  A perfect ending for the day.

- Brian