Hanukkah and Happy Birthday Dad!

 We celebrated the first and last nights of Hanukkah with my family, and right in the middle of all of that was my Dad's birthday, so it was a week of fun and food.

Vivian's Hanukkah got off to a rough start.  Her phone fell out of her pocket as she was getting out of the car, and the screen smashed.

She was really upset, but, honestly, all the adults were surprised it lasted unscathed as long as it had.  We cheered her up with yummy food and the opportunity to play with fire.  This was Elena's first Hanukkah handling actual flame, since she's used our wooden set in the past, so Safta stepped in for some moral support.

After dinner and candles, it was time for presents! Last winter, Mom and I had gotten a nice warm blanket at PriceSmart (Colombia's Costco).  It's everyone's favorite, and the girls keep stealing it from me, so when Mom and I saw the same kinds of blankets at Costco, we got the girls their own.  They were suitably grateful.

The girls have also gotten into bingo via their Roblox reality, so we thought we would get a real world holiday themed version.  Again, it was well received.

Of course, then we had to play.

And who should win, but Dad, the Hanukkah birthday boy!

I was okay with not winning, because I had already gotten my Hanukkah present, a new set of pots.  More than enough for the eight nights.

Dad's birthday started off quite foggy.

But then the sun came out, and it turned into a really nice day, so we decided to walk to my parents' house.  Along the way, we saw signs that Santa was going to be driving by with the local fire department.  We decided to find a spot to wait to see him.

We waited a while, and then we got our Santa sighting for 2020.

Then, we kept walking to my parents' house for an afternoon feast of pork shoulder and yummy apple birthday cake.  Elena took my phone while we were waiting for the food to be ready and recorded all kinds of silly videos which kept her busy and happy, and I'm sure will result in some laughs later on in her life.  The dinner was delicious, and so was the birthday cake.

The girls made cards, Jeff got a book, and I wrapped it as best I could.

Dad seemed to enjoy his birthday celebration, and we had enough time the next day to finally decorate our own Christmas tree, so the girls were extra happy.

For the final night of Hanukkah, Jeff stayed home and continued his Pooh Loves Art series, this time with the stuffed Pooh we have.

Vivian has moved from her beanie phase to an ear muff phase, so her ears were nice and warm for the final candle lighting. 

I love all the holidays that celebrate light and family during the shorter and colder days of the year.  That festive spirit is especially welcome this year.