Fun Old Fashioned Family Christmas, 2024

And so it came to pass that, once more, we all descended upon Rebecca and Jeremy's Cary abode for Christmas. It was another great family Christmas, although somewhat lacking in documentation. For the record, if not photographically documented, we did all the usual baking, potica, cookies, cookie decoration (also watching multiple episodes of TGBBS), Christmas eve gifts, Christmas morning, Christmas brunch, Christmas charcuterie, egg nogs, and each of the three traditional Christmas fondues: cheese, meat/seafood, and chocolate. Grand-aunt Carole and particularly her daughter Lexi again impressed with gifts of Swiftia for Penelope. And, as foreshadowed in a previous post, we finally got to watch Christmas Family Vacation all together. 

Advent calendar

Cookie decoration

Stockings

Xmas morning

Auntie Rachel; not bulbular neckwear brought for all
by Rachel...to become a tradition

Jeremy

Swiftie book

Rebecca

Big-time Legoiste

Meat/seafood fondue

Charcuterie

Favorite present: my detachable Mickey ears: real men
wear Mickey ears...now possible with my choice of 
personal headgear

New Year's eve at Disney Springs (one does not wear Mickey ears at
the Springs)

The balloon falls toward midnight...

Disneyworld With Rebecca, Penelope, And Jeremy, 2

Continuing the December visit...

The giant gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian (note line to get in...
it's actually a merch shoppe, selling gingerbread cake, cookies...hand
over fist...)

Ingredients for making the gingerbread house

Some of us, there

Artsy-fartsy reflection in a Christmas tree ornament at the
Grand Floridian

Ditto

Jeremy can make the teacup spin really fast

Some people see the teacups as a time for rest, contemplation,
reflection, quiet conversation...

Disney pretzel

Misty fireworks

Christmas carol pageant at ECPOT, narrated by Count Olaf

Winter landscaping at EPCOT

On the Living with the Land boat ride at The Land at EPCOT

In the vast subterranean greenhouses

Ditto

Christmas tree at Wilderness Lodge...homesick for Montana and
Lochsa Lodge, and Blue Pine Lodge (our old home, west of Mssoula,
aka the Llazy LL Lland and Llama Company, LLC)

Pre-fireworks view from the Contemporary Resort

Snow (snoap) at Disney Springs

Before Mt. Everest, at Animal Kingdom; we think it's
really a recycling of Disneyland's Matterhorn

Before non-Disney Mt. Everest, Kala Pattar, Nepal, 2008; 19,600 feet

Disneyworld With Rebecca, Penelope, And Jeremy, 1

It would be the first of two visits from Rebecca and Penelope, the second in late January/early February. Since this blog has ample Disney posts--just enter "Disney" in the search box and be amazed; or appalled, as the case may be--I won't attempt to be comprehensive nor chronologically correct. Many different cameras/phones cooperated on this post and the sequel. Oh yes, it was Christmastime, so there's that too, as well as pix from the miscellaneous wanderings Vicki and I do, both at Disney and in the neighborhood here at our Lake Buena Vista residence.

Ready to blast off in Tomorrowland (i.e., the Present, as envisaged in 1970)

Happy Place

Really about to blast off

Guarding the Galaxy

Posing before the world's largest golf ball

Thinking ahead...this will be the first Xmas when we can all watch
Family Christmas Vacation together...Penelope is now 13 and will soon
see the source of so many family cinematic allusions...

My currently favorite ride (apart from the outbound tram)

Off property: in the massive food court of the massively massive
Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets, just across I-4 from our apartment
(a quarter of a mile, as the horseflies; 4 miles to get around I-4)

Line to get into the Disney Character Warehouse, in the Outlets, where
you can pick up last year's Disney paraphernalia for nearly reasonable
prices

Inside (Iron Chef) Morimoto's resto at Disney Springs

Really excellent pre-tariff Peking Duck

At the Roundup Rodeo resto in Hollywood Studios--as much as you
can eat BBQ

"These are not the 'droids you're looking for," she is saying

Miss Piggy Shrine

Arches National Park; or possibly the Planet Batuu

Back to reality

Standing in line...

Ready to blast off

At one of the thousands of merch shoppes, this at the Contemporary [1970]
Resort

Beignets at the French Quarter

We have gotten to Animal Kingdom several times

Notable for having non-animatronic animals