Santa Claus is coming to town

We are woefully overdue for some updates, and rest assured that the photos are piling up. We'll do a post-holiday wrap-up album that will go back to Thanksgiving.

We are in the middle of our annual Christmas sojourn to Ohio. This adventure starts in the Cleveland Metro area with Jen's family before heading down the road to Dayton late on Christmas Eve.

The roadtrip here was blessedly uneventful. We made use of a DVD player for the first time and this bit of technology helped to hypnotize our almost-18-month-old little guy for some of the ride. As parents, we felt a little guilty resorting to this trick, but as adults who needed to survive a 400-mile drive to northern Ohio, with plenty more miles ahead of us, we aren't going to be too hard on ourselves.

Today, in what can now be called an "annual tradition," Jen's mom, Debbie, took Jack to the Mall to see Santa. Jack was in pretty good spirits and, with a little coaxing from his mother, cracked a hint of a smile on Santa's lap.

From Building Blocks

Last year, I wrote about Jack's visit to Santa and that first picture. Be sure to click the link too see what a difference a year makes. It's fun to see our baby turn into a little boy. And, as a bonus, Santa was the same as last year! Do you think he was the real deal? Ho! Ho! Ho!