Las Aceitunas

I started this blog about 12 years ago with the idea that it would be an ongoing catalogue of what's been going. And there's been good stuff. But mostly I've been preoccupied with the tough stuff that is not worth hashing out here. So for the moment, this will just be photo updates of the holidays. And also, it's been so long I sort of forgot how to use the Blogger platform, so don't mind a few photo missteps (you probably won't, but it'll be bugging me for sure).

Before we left for the East Coast, we had some Suzi and Bill time at a fun bubble show - followed by dinner. 

Then we had a little pre-Christmas present opening at home, which yielded two sportfishing poles and a desktop power supply, and you know what that means, of course:

Then in Moorestown before Christmas we had a chance to see our dear friend/former babysitter Tony, who helped the boys make cookies:

...and then we shared our 45th annual Christmas party with the Abbates.

And of course once Christmas was over, it was time for our Lukey to have a birthday, and in this case it was a momentous TEENAGE birthday (not that we're making a big deal of it or anything, ahem):

The two-day celebration started with an "alternative meats" dinner featuring python and turducken.

A man and his cake.

A man and his tramp. (There are probably better ways to say that...)

A man and his relatives.

...And a man and his steak (a fancy steak dinner at Fogo de Chao for the actual birthday). 

Plus Dave in his happy (pinball) place.

...And then we were off to Key West, a beautiful land where you are surrounded by ocean, key lime pie, tropical fruits, and a whole bunch of cats and chickens walking around.

Here's a giant jackfruit at Robert Is Here, our all-time favorite produce stand. This jumbo baby would have cost us about $100 if we had indulged Zach's desire to buy it.

We swam in one of the many beautiful pools at our hotel, surrounded by palm trees and artwork. 

We petted polydactyl cats at Hemingway House...

We (OK, Dave) channeled Hemingway with a surprisingly gray beard.

Luke became an accomplished ocean fisherman (no, really! We ate what he and Dave caught for dinner one night!)

Zach and his pal Milo rode sky-high at the top of the boat on our snorkel/kayak excursion.

And then we had lunch on the way out of town at Morada Bay... we kept our feet in the cozy sand the whole time we were eating.

And finally, we enjoyed a visit with the Florida cousins:

Could we have packed any more into those two weeks? Things I will miss from the vacation... Seeing everyone. Chickens walking around. Our beautiful hotel. Walking down to the bar and drinking key lime coladas. Dave's beard. Dave saying "ectb" (pronounced "yest" in Russian) instead of saying just plain "yes." And Luke filling every pause in conversation with a thoughtful, "Las aceitunas" ("the olives") his favorite new Spanish word.

Las aceitunas, indeed.