SoCal Caprons: December 2008

Now that we've made it through another Christmas, thought I'd take a few minutes to reflect on some of the traditions we're trying to maintain or establish in our young (and growing) family. Some of these are things we've done for years, others are new and some are more aspirational - meaning that we've done them once or twice before and aim to do them more routinely, if we ever get our act together. Anyway, figure by writing things down while they are fresh in my mind, I'll have a ready-made checklist for next year. So here goes:

Christmas Breakfast Burritos: While I've always been a fan, it took our most recent trip to Albuquerque to convert Leslie. After numerous visits to my former haunts, most notably, the Frontier Restaurant, Leslie finally understood the appeal and became an addict, going so far as to make me drive around Albuquerque Christmas morning because, "there has to be a burrito place open this morning." Sadly, there wasn't, so ever since, Leslie's managed to stock up with green chili, potatoes, eggs, cheese and tortillas long before the shops close down for the holidays.

Balboa Island Walk and Boat Parade: We live right next to Newport Beach and one of the more interesting parts of town is Balboa Island which, while technically an island, is located in Newport Harbor and only requires walking or driving over a small bridge to access. Once on the island, there are hundreds of tightly packed cottages, tourist shops and restaurants that go all-out for Christmas with intricate lighting displays. The biggest event is the boat parade where hundreds of decorated boats cruise around the island. This goes on for multiple nights and, apparently, a million or so people show up to watch. Consequently, we've not yet taken in the parade with the boys and have settled for checking things out during off hours. Once everyone can walk more than 50 yards on their own, we'll give this a try.

Mom and Dad's Day Out: This was a new one this year but proved to be a lifesaver. Since we stayed in town this year, Leslie and I decided to take a day for ourselves and sent the boys off to day care while we wrapped up the final Christmas preparations, got each other gifts (see my new suit pictures) and spent way to much money on lunch overlooking the Pacific. Felt a little guilty about ditching the boys but my first uninterrupted latte in over a year and a grotesquely large deep-fried lobster seems to have absolved me.

Corny T-Shirt Swap: Okay, while this hasn't yet taken on a truly "traditional" Christmas status, Jon and I have been swapping tacky, comical, ironic T-Shirts for various celebratory occasions. Whether it's "Kenya Dig It" or "Keeping it Rural", a $10 T-Shirt seems to capture the spirit of brotherly love nicely - and at Wal-Mart prices. Thought about sending this one over to Waco but opted to hold on to it for myself. In the meantime, keep an eye out for this one, or maybe this one. No wait, this one. Aaahhh, tradition... TRADITION!

Fruit Loop Stocking Stuffers: Leslie alluded to this already via Twitter. You can't imagine the joy that $2 bucks worth of Fruit Loops created. Only thing I've seen Andrew eat all week.

Mariner's Christmas Tree Lighting: We've really been enjoying our church lately. Andrew and Owen have gotten connected to a bunch of friends through Sunday School and, at the same time, plugged Leslie and me into a small group with a number of their friend's parents. Given there are a few thousand people at our church, this has been a nice way to overcome the size and make church a bit easier to navigate. That said, there are some benefits to attending a large church - which is that for everything they do, they do up big. We attended this year's tree lighting with friends and were amazed by the thousands of people, huge band, big screen TV's, chili stands, funnel cake and extensive strands of electrical cables the boys found to be really fun to jump over, crawl through and run on. Thank goodness for rubber-soled shoes.

Christmas Cabernet: We're not huge wine drinkers, especially with a pregnant wife, but do manage to "splurge" (i.e. spend more than $10) on a bottle of wine for special occasions. This year's choice was a 2005 Franciscan Cabernet from Napa. Pricey by our standards at $19.95 but think I saved a few bucks by using my rewards club card. Pretty decent cabernet with a bit of smokey, full flavor that went well with beef tenderloin, creamy mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.

12 Days of Bond: I've seen them all a hundred times each but for some reason, I watch them any time they're on. Thank goodness for TBS, TNT and SPIKE. Now if they could only eliminate the pro-wrestling and ultimate fighting from their schedules, I'd never need to change the channel.

Posole and Tamales: Another New Mexico tradition we've brought to California - although the million or so Hispanics who got here before us might not think we're so innovative. Nonetheless, we cooked up a huge pot of Posole last weekend and have been living off that and Trader Joe's tamales for the last few days. I know we should have made the tamales from scratch but maybe next year.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: "That there is a RV." Enough said.

So that's the list for now. What are some of the traditions you're especially fond of? Perhaps there's something you're doing we might want to "borrow" next year. I see that the Capron's in Wichita Falls went with the Tacky Sweater party this year. Hmmm, I think there may be fuzzy elf sweaters in Andrew and Owen's future.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!