More than two years after an unfortunate mishap occurred while I was opening a wedding gift that had arrived in the mail, the Wise Man - whose head and gift for the Baby Jesus broke off in said mishap - is back in one piece. It simply took some superglue and some initiative.
Just as it would seem strange to have Two Musketeers or Two Stooges, the Two Wisemen in our Nativity Scene were indeed an odd sight. Thankfully, that problem has been remedied. The holidays are happy once more.
Now, on to the update. We visited Catonsville on Christmas afternoon and stayed until the morning of New Year's Eve. If it tells you anything, I was quite homesick by the end of the visit, which, for the record, is better than being sick of home.
Arriving in Catonsville in the afternoon meant that we had to miss the traditional Christmas Day family brunch at Denise's house. Being the thoughtful person that she is, Denise had us over for our own, smaller brunch on Dec. 26.
I've always known that Denise is a loving person, but it was particularly evide
nt this holiday season. Perhaps the best example I can offer is that Denise joined in the "fun" without complaint as I photographed 41 bronze baseballs that are embedded into the sidewalk in front of the Camden Yards Warehouse. If that doesn't scream excitement, I don't know what does. (To explain: I haven't been able to find an archive of the home runs that have landed on Eutaw Street, so I'm trying to create one on my Orioles blog, "Roar from 34.")I don't think Denise knew what she was getting into - cold, rainy Rutgers football games, random photography at the baseball stadium, etc. - when she met my father. Dad and Erica helped with the effort as well, meaning that the phrase "I owe you one" applies three times over for me.
The atypical photographic effort came as part of a fun trip to downtown Baltimore where the four of us visited historic Fort McHenry, the site where the Star Spangled Banner was penned; had lunch at Cross Street Market in Federal Hill; enjoyed coffee at Spoons; and ended our trip at Camden Yards.
I was happy that our trip downtown allowed Erica to enjoy some Baltimore-esque experiences. As it turned out, we had another authentic Baltimore experience that evening when we went duckpin bowling with some friends after dinner. The game, which originated in Baltimore in the late-19th century, allows you three turns to use a small ball to knock down miniature-sized pins. Duckpin bowling is more difficult than ten-pin bowling, but Erica was a natural. In fact, she carried her team to victory in the first of what turned out to be some very intense "guys vs. girls" match-ups.
Other of the many highlights of our trip to "Music City Maryland" included lots of quality time with my three favorite little girls - Emily, Lindsay, and Madelyn - and our second annual "Double Date Night" with Pete and Michele. Just as we did last year, the four of us enjoyed dinner at Nacho Mama's in Canton followed by dessert at Vaccaro's next door. Afterward, we played Pete's DVD "Price is Right" game. Not to brag or anything, but when was the last time you saw a contestant hit the $10,000 spot in Plinko and have the Showcase Showdown wheel stop at a dollar? Call me, Drew.
Here's what it looks like when someone hits $10,000 twice at Plinko (note: my reaction was, um, different from this guy's).
Two additional traditions that continued this year were the holiday family gathering with my mom's side of the family and Erica and my holiday lights tour through the towns neighboring Catonsville. Some pictures and video from our trip follow.
Above: Nacho Mama's Outing; Playing the Role of Santa Elvis Outside Nacho Mama's; Opening Emily's Christmas Gift to Uncle Matt (all men got calculators so they could "pay the bills"); Christmas Night with the Taylor Girls;Outside Pete and Michele's House.
Video: "Where's Madelyn?"
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