A Hollywood Visit and an 18th Birthday

February is always a bit of an exciting month in our house.  Both Verity and Abigail have birthdays, so there is always lots of planning to be done.  In England the weather in February is a bit of a drag, but in San Diego it really is a rather glorious month.  Not too hot, but pleasantly warm enough to do whatever one wants to do.  And, even though we miss the February half term holiday in England, it turns out that President's day often brings some kind of alignment of a school/work holiday.  So Tim and the kids had a four day weekend over Valentine's Day, and Tim is usually pretty adamant about using his time off to do something Deliberately Fun.

So, after doing the wish fulfillment vs. constraint analysis, we decided to go to Hollywood Blvd.  I had no real interest in going but it did seem like the sort of thing that one should do at some point if one lived in Southern California.  So here are some pics:

View through the car window of Hollywood Blvd

The very odd Highland shopping center

More outlandish buildings of the Highland structure

We ate at the 1950's diner, Johnny Rockets.  Nothing too fancy on the menu.  Old fashioned hamburgers and malted milkshakes.  As it should be!

Johnny Rocket's 1950's diner - pretty cool!

 

My 1950's inspired burger

 

Lots of malted milkshakes!

Then it was off to see the stars on Hollywood Boulevard!

Orlando Bloom's star!  Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings - finding his star was a must!

 

 

Julie Andrew's star - enough said!
 

But I actually think we were all more mesmerized by the handprints and footprints in the concrete.  I think that seemed a bit more personal than the stars.

From Dorothy herself

 

Another Mary Poppins star - the one and only Burt!

 

One of the oldest inscriptions there, from Jimmy Stewart in 1948 - amazing!

 

And something a bit more modern ... Harry Potter.

Sadly, Abigail was with a friend on holiday in the mountains, so our singer/actress didn't get to come with us to the land of the stars.  But she still had a very nice 18th birthday a few short days later.
Her 18th birthday was on a Monday.  Monday's are crazy days in our house, so we did the Bleakley birthday breakfast and presents in bed thing on the Sunday morning so everything was nice and relaxed.

The birthday girl awakening from her beauty sleep!

Ok, the breakfast was just me having too much fun in the kitchen.  Poached smoked trout on a bed of watercress and asparagus, topped with a gently fried egg, with the best hollandaise sauce I have ever made on the side (Abigail loves hollandaise).  Also homemade pain au chocolate, a rich milk/egg bread studded with lots of dark chocolate pieces, topped with butter and orange marmalade.  Finally, a dish of strawberries with balsamic vinegar and mint.

The birthday breakfast

The birthday girl!

Concentrating hard on opening all those presents!

Abigail always asks for the full works for her birthday dinner, so it was the pork roast, applesauce, red cabbage, roasted kale sprouts, etc.  And for dessert, the ever-popular chocolate truffle cake.

Quite a lot of candles on that cake!

  

 

 

I wonder if I, as the mother, am expected to say something at this rather important milestone.  I suppose the main thing to say is that this 18 years has been one incredible ride.  Love means something so much richer, and deeper, than I ever knew before Abigail came along.  We drive each other crazy, but we are also joined at the hip.  This world is a better place because Abigail is in it, and I am honored to be her mother.

 

 

Denmark Conference

     After the Christmas holidays, it was straight back to business as usual.  We actually had a pretty awful trip back to San Diego from Idaho.  We got caught in a snow storm between Twin Falls and Ely, Nevada, which was the first leg of our trip.  That slowed us down, so that we didn't arrive in Ely until about 6pm, where the snow was falling thick and fast.  We still had at least another 9 hours to go, with the most dangerous part of the journey just ahead.  We also also started having car trouble with the beetle, which, as it turns out, is a very spoiled California car which does not like cold weather.  All the warning signs were on, so we decided not to risk it with the snow and the potentially malfunctioning car, and stayed overnight with my sister Julienne's in-laws, Don and Rama Robertson.  They were so good to put us up for the night.  After some pretty fervent prayers and a good night's sleep, we got up early the next morning to find that the car engines had not cracked in the -15F weather, the beetle had now decided to behave, and the snow storm had passed! Within a few hours time, we were in Las Vegas, well on our way home.

     Anyway, as soon as we got home I had to prepare for an academic conference in Denmark which was taking place on the 7th and 8th of January.  The conference was entitled 'Happiness, Well-being and the Good Life:  Applications and Perspectives.'  I thought that it might be a good opportunity to develop some of my ideas on a philosophy of parenting that I had been thinking back for a while.  Looking back, I'm not quite sure what made me think this conference would be a good fit with some of my ideas, and I'm thinking now that I must have been inspired to see that I could mold a philosophy of parenting into a conference on happiness.  Of course, there is a connection, because my ideas on parenting that I have been writing about in my Philosophy for Parents blog have been focused quite a bit on the idea of the 'human good', which in Aristotelian philosophy is intricately connected with the idea of happiness, or what can also be translated as 'flourishing'.  But I am still grateful that I was able to see how to develop some of my ideas regarding parenting and 'human flourishing' could fit into the framework of the conference.  

 

     So, I went.  Tim was very good to let me go.  It was a big investment in terms of time and money.  The conference was in Odense, Denmark, which is actually the hometown of Hans Christian Anderson.  My paper presentation went well.  I met some very smart, generous scholars and was able to have some helpful and encouraging discussions with them regarding my work.  I presented on the Thursday, and attended the conference dinner at a restaurant called Bacchus that night.  I had an excellent Jerusalem artichoke soup topped with a poached egg for my first course, and a delicious roasted quail with root vegetables for the main course.   The dessert was delicately stewed prunes with chocolate mousse, and it was fabulous.  

     When the conference was over, I spent the next two nights with the lovely Holmbone family.  Lars Holmbone is an old friend of Tim's from when they were missionaries together in Manchester, England.  Lars very kindly picked me up from the conference and took me to their home.  The next day he cleared his schedule to take me around some historical sites in Denmark.  First, of course, I had to see the world headquarters of Lego!!!
 

World headquarters of Lego ... in January!

     And then Lars took me to see Legoland, Denmark, which as you can see is very snowy and very closed in January.  

 

It doesn't actually snow as much as you might think in Denmark ...

 

     We then set off to see a little village in Denmark which is known as the 'birthplace of Christianity' in Denmark.  It is apparently the place where the Danish king Harold Bluetooth accepted Christianity.  So there is a beautiful old church on this ancient site, as well as a very famous stone which bears an intricate carving of a picture of Christ on one side, and a rune inscription on the other stating that Harold now was a Christian and therefore a Christian king.

 

The ancient church, on the site where Harold Bluetooth accepted Christianity

Rune inscriptions describing Harold's conversion 

Carvings, now faded, of Jesus on the cross and other Christian images

 

Lars Holmbone, my fabulous Danish host!

Then it was back home to face the carnage that always awaits me whenever I return home, although Tim had done a very good job managing while I was away.  I had a new course to prepare for, as well as another conference in Hermosa Beach later in January, plus 3 birthdays to plan and execute!  

     Samuel's is the first birthday of the year, January 22.  Samuel isn't much of a planner and we aren't loaded with cash, so in the end we agreed that he could take a friend to the movies and that would be a great party.  So he had his friend Ian over for a family pizza party, then it was off to the movies and we were good.

The minimalist birthday party

     To commemorate Samuel reaching the milestone of officially being a teenager, Abigail took this lovely photo.

Samuel at 13

     Two days later, Eleanor has a birthday!!  She decided to follow suit and also have a movie party.  Yea!!  So we had friends Katie and Rachel over for a birthday lunch, and then took everyone to see The Good Dinosaur.
 

Eleanor's 9th birthday party

     Every year, Eleanor always asks for a horsey cake.  I don't do it often enough to get very good at it, but I do try.

Eleanor the horse lover!

     The next day was Sunday, Eleanor's actual birthday.  As per usual, she got the Bleakley birthday breakfast  and presents in bed.
 

Happy Birthday Eleanor!

Christmas 2015

    I've still got to blog about our summer vacation to Yellowstone and the Sequoias, Halloween and our Thanksgiving trip to New Mexico, but despite all that catching up to do, it seems right to blog about Christmas at the moment.
     The week before Christmas has been absolutely packed; it was one of those weeks where you look back and can't believe it was just a week.  Last Sunday started out bright and early with a 7:30am choir practice for the church Christmas program.  Tim and Abigail were singing, Imogen playing the violin and Samuel playing the cello.  It was a lovely Christmas program, with a really good narration that gave me some things to think about regarding the Christmas story that I hadn't thought of before.  Then Imogen and Samuel had to stay behind and attend another ward because they were performing 'O Come O Come Emmanuel' with Austin Pierce.  They were performing The Piano Guys arrangement, which seems to be the arrangement de jour at the moment; I've heard this arrangement performed more than once this year.  Anyway, they did very well and it was a lovely performance.
     We came home for a very tasty roasted lamb Sunday dinner, and then in the evening we did our annual family Christmas caroling.  We had done our Christmas baking the day before, so we took out our treats of jam thumbprints, sugar cookies, peanut brittle, pecan tarts, and chocolate truffles and assembled our Christmas plates to deliver while caroling.

Georgie, Samuel and Nelly assembling the goodies

 

The Christmas plates

 

     The kids normally HATE caroling, but this year was the first year when we actually made it through without extreme threats to take back all of their Christmas presents if they didn't start participating. Things are looking up ...?  I guess?

     We were meant to leave for Idaho first thing Wednesday morning, and although that was an exciting thought, there was still an infinite amount of things that needed to happen before we left.  There was still plenty of Christmas shopping to do, and I had to get ready for our annual Christmas Soiree which was on Monday night.  I managed to do a pretty ninja shopping trip Monday morning with Imogen, Samuel, Georgiana and Eleanor, and made it back in time to start the cooking for the soiree.

     The soiree was lovely; I tried not to let myself get stressed out by it all by not thinking about it very much.  Parties are always difficult to plan, and Christmas parties even more difficult - people are so busy this time of year and guest list is nearly impossible to finalize.  In the end, though, we had a houseful of people, food and music which was the whole point.

     So, on the food:  this year I did a trifle, but somehow I managed to invent a new one, which was VERY exciting for me.  I haven't made many trifles since we moved from England, and my last Christmas trifle was a bit of a disaster, so I wasn't even going to attempt to make one this year.  But trifles are very Christmassy - or rather, I can't really imagine a Christmas party without a trifle, so I had to put my game face on.  Anyway, I made a raspberry, pomegranate, and clementine trifle.  SO COOL.  This probably isn't the place for a recipe, but I made the sponge fingers like a dry clementine cake, soaked them in raspberry and pomegranate juice, piled on tons of fresh raspberries and pomegranate arils, and then topped that with an orange-infused egg custard.  It worked!

 

Chocolate Chestnut Yule Log, and the Raspberry Pomegranate and Clementine Trifle

      I also did a chocolate chestnut Yule log (pictured above), a cranberry clementine cheesecake, a Christmas salad of red cabbage, red peppers and pomegranate airls, and a cassoulet with lamb, pork and sausages.  The most important thing, for me, though, is always the cheese board.  This year it was blue stilton, Lancashire bomber, goats cheese, Old Amsterdam, and Pont L'Eveque. And just as important is the chutney:  this year, it was homemade Christmas chutney and red pepper jelly.

 

 

        We had a little music program as well.  Samuel and Imogen played their 'O Come O Come Emmanuel' piece, which was beautiful.  Abigail and Matt Woolley did their annual Christmas duet, this time singing 'Let It Snow'.  We also had a little piece from Katie Dusseault on the harp, which was a very pleasant surprise.

 

 

     Tuesday morning I got up and realized that I still had to make the Christmas pudding for the Christmas dinner on Friday.  I had also promised my students that I would make them fudge for after their final, which was that evening at 8pm.  So I spent a good portion of the day cooking and preparing yet more Christmas trays/goodies/cakes, etc.  I can't look back and say I regret any of that, however.  I love Christmas cooking, especially Christmas pudding.  My dad loves my Christmas pudding and we were going to be with them for Christmas, so making the pudding made me happy.

     I had to administer my last final on Tuesday night - 22 December, 8-10pm.  Absolutely crazy!!  I have never heard of taking an exam that close to the Christmas break.  Anyway, I managed to get down to campus a few hours early because I had to get some books for a paper I am supposed to be writing over the Christmas break, and everything was going to be closed until January 4th.  Fortunately I managed to get the books that I needed just before the library shut.  It was pouring rain outside so I showed up to the exam looking like a drowned rat. 

     I was sorry to see my students for the last time, however.  I have enjoyed teaching this semester.  All of my students were really great; they really were.  The chances of having another semester like this one are pretty slim, I think.  

     Wednesday morning I got up very early to ... pack.  We were supposed to leave on Wednesday at 6am, but packing up all of our Christmas presents still had to happen.  That sort of thing takes time.  And patience.  We ended up leaving about 1:30pm, but frankly, I was glad that we even got on the road at all. 

 

Christmas on the road

     We arrived in Idaho 14 and 1/2 hours later, 4:45am local time, in the middle of a snow storm.  We took two cars so I had to drive the whole way.  The kids were great but the whole thing is an exercise in absolute drudgery, so it was just about minimizing all the negativity of a hard core road trip.

     But we were so glad we came!  Surrounded by family, music, shining lights, good food, presents and snow - it was truly a Christmas to remember.

     Thursday was again, characterized by last minute Christmas shopping. I've decided December 24 is a very dangerous day.  It's the day when you try to make sure that no one is going to be disappointed; but more often than not this fear leads to panic buying and that is BAD. 

     Christmas Eve started with a rather traditional Hamilton Christmas dish:  vegetable and ham chowder in homemade bread bowls.  We also had our traditional shrimp dip there by order of my brother in law, Keith.  Lots of hustle and bustle and excitement.

 

Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma's house

     Then we had our traditional Christmas nativity play, where we act out the Christmas story and sing carols.  My sister Mandy had a good idea:  she ordered all the kids to go upstairs, and find whatever they could to pass as a costume in the Nativity play.  It worked! 

Imogen playing carols with Keith

Autumn, Paisley and Verity as angels

What is Brett?  Perhaps a shepherd ...

Zevvy came as a camel for the Wise Men, but there was also talk of him being an armadillo.

Brett as the donkey

Abigail sang 'O Holy Night' for us, a real treat!

 

 

Hamilton Family on Christmas Eve, 2015

      After the Nativity play and carols, we started the rush to get to bed.  Checking Norad Santa, assembling a plate of goodies for Santa and his reindeer, laying out stockings, reading Christmas stories, and so forth.  The kids got to bed at a rather decent hour, but more importantly, Tim and I did as well.  We got into bed at 12:30am - that is by far the earliest Christmas Eve we have ever had.
     Christmas morning started not too early, about 7am.  Is Christmas getting, like, easier, or something as the kids get a little bit older?  Anyway, in my family we have a tradition of lining up youngest to oldest (or is it oldest to youngest?  I can never remember) at the top of the stairs and then ceremoniously rushing in to the living room to assess the Santa damage.  So that's what we do with the kids when we take them to Grandma's house for Christmas, only nowadays it's the cousins, of course, that line up at the top of the stairs.  Here's what Santa left for our kids:

 

     Abigail got a new laptop - for college, mind you; Imogen got a new phone - although, mind you, not an i-phone, by strictest orders of the anti-i-phone police (Tim has an irrational hatred of i-phones, and although I used all my feminine wiles, plus market research, to try to persuade him to purchase one for his uber-materialistic daughter, it was to no avail ...); Samuel got a robotic arm (trying to branch out from 2,000+ plus lego models); Georgie got a bedside lamp (a modest request by any measure); Eleanor got a marble run; and Verity got a Barbie Pony set. 

 

It's not an i-phone, but Imogen has enough sense to smile anyway

Samuel, Eleanor, Georgie and Verity amidst the stocking madness

     After a wonderful Christmas breakfast from Grandma (Christmas breakfast casserole and Christmas braid wreath), we commenced opening presents from another.  That may sound simple but when there are 27 people in the room, that requires military organization and high levels of emotional intelligence.  We made it through just fine in the end.  One highlight of Christmas for me is always giving my dad his Christmas present.  My dad is the best - he is one of my very favorite people.  He is so easy to please and has a great sense of humor and lots of interests so it is always fun to buy for him; I never worry if he will like what I get him.  So this year we got him Christmas ornaments inspired from one of his favorite films, A Christmas Story.  We got him the leg lamp, and Ralphie dressed up in the pink bunny suit.

 

Grandpa opening his present!

    And then it was time to cook the Christmas dinner, at least for me.  Make no mistake, I was the chef.  I offered - begged - to do an English Christmas dinner for everyone.  So we are talking turkey, chestnut stuffing, roasted potatoes, roasted parsnips, sausages wrapped in bacon, braised red cabbage, brussel sprouts and bacon, and carrot and swede mash.  I think that's it.  And then we had my homemade Christmas pudding for dessert; everyone had a bit, even the kids; I was impressed!

 

Eleanor and Lalo getting Christmas dinner

      An integral part of Christmas at Grandma's house is playing games!!!  No matter what game it is, Grandpa, or any of the aunts or uncles, or any of the cousins, are always up for playing games.  So we played 'four on a couch' about a billion times; 'big booty'; 'Qwirkle'; and endless rounds of 'Euchre'.

     Christmas 2015 was a rather special one, however, in that we got to go to the new Star Wars film the day after Christmas!  I got to go with 4 of my 6 siblings to see Han Solo and Princess Lea on screen for the first time since 1983.  One of our family outings when I was a kid that sticks out in my mind is going to see Return of the Jedi.  We were all so excited because we had to see how Han Solo was going to get un-frozen and how Luke was going to cope with the news that Darth Vader was his dad.  So it was such a treat to hang out in the family kitchen with my siblings some 30 years later and enthuse/discuss/argue about the new Star Wars story.  Maybe its the conservative in me, but I love it when some things don't change.

     Last but not least, Christmas 2015 was the first time our children went skiing!  There was tons of snow this year in Twin Falls, so a little, affordable, ski mountain near Twin called Magic Mountain was open and ready for business.  We didn't need anything fancy as the kids would only be on the bunny hill, so Magic Mountain suited us just fine.  It was everything one would expect - lots of falling down, bruises, cold bums, frustrations, etc.  But they nearly all got the hang of it in the end.  Abigail thought she had everything down so begged us for a lift ticket after lunch.  Tim chose to believe her insistence that she was good enough (I had my doubts), and so he gave in and bought her a lift ticket.  The result was that 30 minutes later we found ourselves on a pretty steep hill with a girl who had the strong potential to ski right off the edge.  We tried our best to go down, but still managed to win the 'Person Who Gets Escorted off the Mountain by Ski Patrol due to Complete Ineptitude' award.  Oh well.

 

The Bleakley/Roos skiing party.  Taken with Go-Pro lens so its all a bit curvy.