The Christmas Pre-Season

Welcome back, kids.

Kris, Abby, and some of the Tribe at some play they saw at Central Park.

Novembers always fly by, and this one was no exception. Three and a half weeks of work, one week of Holiday break, and all of it sandwiched between two much larger, grander Holidays (sorry Thanksgiving, but you know you suck.) Climbing out of the rubble of Halloween, our November was pretty calm for, like, ten days, then accelerated into high gear as Christmas decor came out and we started shopping like crazy (all the deals seem to come out earlier and earlier every year, we started pouncing on crap like the second week of the moth this year I think.)

Anyway, all more of the same for this time of year. I'll leave you now with the standard picture/video dump of this month and some of the crap we did.

Enjoy. . .

Abby showcases her part for the team's upcoming High Kick competition downstate in Novi (the first weekend of the month.) They have to record videos of themselves performing the routine and send it to their coaches, who can then analyze it in-depth at their leisure to see where each pommer needs to improve.

The day before the High Kick competition, the team performed a dress rehearsal of the routine for the team's parents in the high school gym (the video is too long, so I couldn't post it - I'll share the link when the organization releases the video, maybe next month.) Alayna and I wouldn't be driving south to attend this time around, since she had to work and Erik would be up north hunting anyway (and that way Kris and Courtney could both save money and split a hotel room anyway.)

The girls performed some kind of a 'sciencey' routine, seeing how Midland is all about chemicals and science and whatever (you know, 'cause Dow.)

This group is a lot sharper than they were in 8th grade, that's for damn sure.

Kick line is definitely on point. 

Kris, Abby, Courtney and Ella all left for downstate in the early afternoon, leaving me and the Cannonball on our own for dinner that night. Alayna requested we hit up Fuji Sushi, her favorite restaurant, which I was fine with (I enjoy me some sushi.) Of course she had to order a ton of different stuff, and she barely touched sashimi (she really wanted it but had never had it before, and, you know, it's raw fish.) She's an expensive date.

I didn't even finish mine, I gave the rest to her.

A selfie from Abby the night before the competition, as they were settling in to the hotel for the night.

The next morning, Kris made it a point to grab her and Abby Dunkin' Donuts, Kris' all-time favorite chain (which sadly isn't in the greater Tri-City area anymore.)

The Midland JV Pom Team arrives to the competition, ready to kick ass and take names (Abby at the far left.)

Ella and a brace of Abbies.

The team, right before their routine, fully dressed and ready for battle.

Waiting in the wings, Abby and the girls took a few pics (we find a lot of this sorta thing on Abby's phone.)

Harper, Abby, Abigail C., and Ella.

Driving back up north after the competition. The team placed in the middle this year, not in the top three but not at the bottom of the barrel, so they were fine with it.

Monday evening was Ella's birthday, so the Johnsons invited Abby along for an ear piercing (Ella wanted some random part of her ear pierced for her birthday.)

After the piercing appointment they swung by Country Barrel (Crock and Barrel? I don't remember the name of this restaurant) for dinner.

Ella beat the ever living shit out of her at checkers.

Some shmancy Hot cocoa, there.

That looks sanitary. . .

Exit through the gift shop (seriously - why does a restaurant have a frickin' gift shop?)

Election Night, '24. Not Democracy's finest hour. . .

The next day, Yours Truly had to come home from work because I was pretty sick (I don't do that often, it takes a lot for me to take a personal sick day.) The dogs are always pretty good at keeping me company, though.

Watson keeps watch over our house throughout the day, preventing bad guys from killing us or whatever.

Abby had a dental scan on this random-ass machine later in the week. Turns out she has FIVE wisdom teeth that will need to be extracted. So that should be fun and expensive. . . 

Alayna takes a selfie during one of her shifts at Taco Bell. Kid apparently hasn't heard about 'If You Have Time to Lean, You Have Time to Clean' mantra.

Alayna and a friend of hers from work on the way home from her shift.

Finally broke this one out this second Friday of the month - it's been hanging out in my beer fridge in the basement for the last two years or so. It was pretty good, but definitely more of a summer beer.

While Alayna was at work and Kris and I were at home unwinding from the work week, Abby and her squad went up to Midland High for a home football game. Nica's in the band, but the JV team didn't have to perform tonight.

Tonight's theme was 'camo'. . . . I guess.

Abby and some of her people in the stands, during the game.

Once the game wrapped up, the students usually hang out on the football field and take a bunch of pics. And probably post it to their social media.

Abby and Kaden.

(They're a big fan of this pose.)

. . . and this one.

As cozy as they look in some of these pictures, Abby would ultimately end up dumping him two days later (via text - ugh), but was at least super nice about it. 

The next morning, I decided it was high time to break out the Holiday decor. It's close enough to mid-November, who cares. Thanksgiving isn't a real holiday anyway.

Alayna and Abby, hanging out in Alayna's bedroom (not exactly sure why. . .)

Kris gets soooooo pissed at squirrels these days. Even after spraying the pumpkins and gourds with hair spray (which is supposed to deter the little bastards), they continue to eat her annual fall display.

At Commandary one Wednesday, learning sword drills via YouTube. Classy.

Teenagers think this sorta this is HILARIOUS.

Kris took Abby to Pixie's in Mt. Pleasant after wrapping up with an appointment Saturday morning (I think it was the first time Abby had been there.)

Hanging out with the dogs Saturday night. We didn't do shit this weekend, it was awesome.

Like beer, Fall and Winter are great seasons for coffee. We make sure to stock up on cool stuff during the Holidays.

Caught this son of a bitch in the storage room. We had placed a few traps after discovering some mouse droppings by some totes - and the previously-mentioned dog food hoarding. This guy got wasted the day after we set the first traps.

I wanted to stake his body on a spike in clear view of the storage area in order to send a message to any and all remaining mice in our house, but of course Kris shot that idea down.

I swung out to Cork n' Ale one Saturday in order to stock up Holiday beers (like I just said, this is my favorite time of year for beers.) You can imagine my surprise when I pulled into the parking lot and the entire outside of the building had undergone a complete overhaul. Evidently they changed owners, and the new owners are now calling the place 'Top Gun'. . . . for whatever reason. Fortunately the inside of the store - and what it offers - was identical, as were the prices.

Pretty well-stocked for the Holidays this year. Let's hope it doesn't get to my waistline too bad. . . 

Hanging out in the basement later that evening, Alayna decided to throw up our basement Christmas tree and 'decorate it'. . . with blue solo cups. 

Special Needs Tree.

Abby kept everyone entertained by doing 'stand up' comedy, which entailed reading dad jokes off her phone.

The girls occupy themselves with selfies and weird pics.

I was just trying to watch a movie. You can see how thrilled I am with cameras being shoved in my face.

Kris asked me to store our hot cocoa mix packets from Costco in a Holiday tin next to the coffee maker. I think I understood the assignment.

From Abby's Insta presence.

Randomly put on this terrifying addition to the Jim Henson catalog. It does not hold up, folks.

The view of my school as I pulled into work one morning the next week. To say it was foggy out would be a bit of an understatement.

Working in the MHS Library. Abby's class must have been down there at the same time as Alayna's.

I pulled the trigger on a new Christmas Tree skirt off Amazon, and Abby took this pic of me while I struggled to tie it together in the back. Kids are cool like that.

Alayna and Lexi take a break from Holiday shopping to take some selfies in the. . . feather boa aisle?

I used to hate this sorta crap from customers when I worked in retail. . .

Abby recorded a time-lapse video of her practicing her advanced bowing technique on the cello. She just got 1st Chair for her orchestra and will be getting a solo in the orchestra's next concert.

Alayna went with Kris to the dogs' annual vet check-up this year (fortunately this happens while Yours Truly was at work.) Each visit ends up costing more than the combined worth of the dogs themselves, so that's fun.

The third Saturday of the month, Kris and the other moms in the Fab Five - plus an assortment of their children - all went out to Midland Cinemas to check out the new adaptation of Wicked (which Kris and the girls saw on stage.) And of course they dressed up in either green or pink for it.

The next day, Kris scurried up atop the roof to string up our Christmas lights.

Abby and I went out shopping for a bit, so on my way out I tried to get a pic of Kris waving through my windshield.

Selfie of Abby in her vanity mirror.

A dogs-only outtake from this year's family Christmas Card session (we didn't get around to booking a photographer this year, so we just did one in the Study instead.) The dogs were very confused with this.

Abby takes a selfie with her cello while practicing in the orchestra room.

(We get lots of selfies off Abby's phone.)

Not sure what these two do at school all day. . .

Kris had to run an errand for her job on the day before Thanksgiving, and had to drive down to the greater Detroit area. On the way, she spotted her all-time, favorite business. . .

Alayna and a coworker at Taco Bell while working on a shift on Black Friday.

Emma, Ella, Abby and Nica all got together on Saturday in order to check out some Dow High School hockey game (the girls have been going to a lot of hockey games recently, I assume because there's cute boys on the team or some shit.)

(I assume they're catching snowflakes. . .)

Saturday evening, us and the Johnsons decided to double-date out in Bay City. We had dinner at some upscale pizza joint (I forget the name of it) then hit up a few bars for some after-meal drinks.

First stop, Tavern 101.

Kris, Courtney, and some girly drinks.

Erik and I generally stick to Miller Lite, keep it classy.

After a couple drinks, we were heading back to the car and came across this giant-ass Christmas tree. . .

Not the most flattering angle, but you gotta get that tree in there somehow.

The downtown area of Bay City is leaps and bounds above Midland's.

Girls wanted to get a pic under these street lights, which is apparently something you have to do while drinking in Bay City.

On our way back to Midland, we stopped off in Auburn to hit up O's.

After the hockey game, the girls all had a sleepover at Emma's (or Nica's) house.

Checks out.

After O's, we decided to pop into The Duel in order to show the girls one of our guys night dive-bar favorites. In the men's room, they don't have urinals, they have one, giant trough to piss in. It's so frickin' disgusting. But also hilarious.

Kris, Courtney and the white-trash aesthetic of The Duel. See ya next month, Internet.

- Brian