Florida

In case we weren't already overwhelmed by their daily manifestations of love and care for our family, Jesse's parents invited us to join them in Florida for the week between Christmas and New Year's. Out of the goodness of our hearts, we agreed. I mean, you can't say no to a gift, plus it was the gracious thing to show Hélène a different part of the county, right? Martyrs, I know.   :)  

We were right on the water in Panama City Beach — crashing waves, sugar white sand, perfection! Well...almost perfection. We forgot to put in an order with Mother Nature regarding the weather, and it was rainy / foggy / stormy almost the entire week. The picture above was taken a few hours after we arrived, and that was the only time we saw the sun all week. Ah well.

In spite of the weather, we did find a few brief windows to get outside. One morning we enjoyed a walk at a nature conservancy just a few minutes from our timeshare, dodging raindrops for some of it but interspersed with bright moments too. We walked all through the woods and on pathways built over the swamps. It was beautiful and so different from home, and the place was basically deserted.

A football was thrown for the duration of the walk (to motivate two small somebodies). 

I like this picture with William in the air and Jim's great expression!  

 Hey look! It's almost hinting at "sunny" for a second! 

Here's a shot from the balcony of our unit, looking out at the ocean. The roar of the waves was relentless and so, so peaceful. 

When it was too poor to be out, we watched a lot of movies, read books, ate fro-yo, found indoor activities, visited the indoor pool...and stuffed our shirts with towels and laundry. We Caslers know how to have a good time, that's for sure!

Mid-week Jesse, the boys, and I visited St. Andrew's State Park (Jim, Tillie, and Hélène went to the movies). We took advantage of a few clear-ish hours, and I especially loved it because I got to join in after finally—that morning—submitting the last of my grades for the fall semester. I'd lugged a pile of papers and spent the better part of several days of the holiday working on them (boo). 

The idea was for Jesse and Josiah to snorkel, but they didn't see a blessed thing in the water. 

William and I coaxed them back to land where all the fun and action seemed to be taking place! 

We saw herons...

...and a raccoon (can you spot it below? William was so thrilled!)...

...a sea cucumber...

...and a bunch of big hermit crabs.

They just looked like shells in the shallow water, but when William and I pulled them out, lo and behold:

In another part of the park: Can you spy an alligator eyeball?

I rather like these two non-indigenous critters!

Here are a few parting shots from the indoor pool.

 

Happy 2016, everybody!

A White Christmas

This was the year we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family. Given that temps were in the 50s much of the week and snow was nowhere to be found even way up there in New England, it's a good thing we had family to fulfill our "White" Christmas dreams!  :)

But first: I should mention that prior to the trip north, we enjoyed a little Casler Christmas the Sunday before. Tillie made a lovely meal and we all exchanged our presents. It was a great afternoon!

And now back to New Hampshire: 

We took full advantage of the warm weather in the days leading up to Christmas. The boys had fun playing baseball...

 ...and riding the toy 4-wheeler that Dad had salvaged. 

Plus there was much fun playing ping pong and foosball in Papa's workshop. He kindly moved major tools and woodworking equipment!

Of course with Levi and Theo around, there was lots of playing with cars and trucks:

And with William around there was lots of concentrated gingerbread house decorating. That kid has some serious piping skills; he spent well over an hour perfecting his house:

And with Josiah around, there was sure to be some deconstruction happening. Papa produced a very old computer tower and keyboard from the basement, and Josiah got to take it apart. Ahh...nothing says "Christmas" like disassembling computer components in the shadow of a twinkling Christmas tree.  :)

On Christmas Eve we changed dinner plans to enjoy a Chinese take-out feast, which is Hélène's family tradition. No one was too put-out when the idea was proposed! Check out that huge box we picked up from the restaurant. Yum!

Christmas morning itself dawned bright and lovely. 

Unfortunately, though, William had a short-lived stomach bug. He hasn't thrown up since he was 3 years old; our family is fortunate that we rarely get sick like that. But Christmas morning he was out for the count. 

After a few hours, he thought he might be able to open a few of his gifts, which he did quietly upstairs with Jesse. 

But after every couple of presents, he'd lie down and take a catnap. Poor munchkin!

I'm happy to say that by 2 p.m., he inexplicably was right as rain and recommenced charging around with his cousins and generally having a blast. By the time extended family arrived in the evening, you couldn't tell he'd ever been sick. We managed a cousins shot...on the ping pong table in the basement...because, well, that's where it worked out.  :)

My dad got a youth-size bow to have at the house for the boys to enjoy through the coming years. So far Josiah's the only one strong enough to pull it back, and we have a lot of safety lessons ahead (!), but I imagine it'll see a lot of use as the boys grow.

Hélène had a few goes too!

Thanks for a wonderful Christmas, Mom and Dad! I'll leave with a photo of Dad and 4 of his 7 grandsons on a hike through the woods, plus a photo of Mom making brownie reindeer in the kitchen with a couple of the boys.