...the holiday season was gone (and so was an entire week of trying to get this post written).  No more turkey.  No more pies.  No more presents, fa la la la laaaas, lights or trees (except in our house where the tree is still standing strong due to laziness desire to hold onto the season).  And no more leg lamp in the front window.  So much buildup and hubbub and before you can blink, it's over and done for another year.

Tree notwithstanding, we gave a valiant effort to celebrate this year.  And celebrate again.  And then some more.  Between both sides of the family, we had approximately 27 Christmases.  Or thereabout, I didn't really keep a close count, but there was certainly no shortage.  And after it was all said it done, it looks like Toys R Us partied too hard and threw up in our living room.  A toy purge/archiving is definitely an overdue, if not overly exciting to-do on the list.

Early Christmas morning looked something like this in our house...

Santa was here and he brought possibly the loudest toy of all time, with no volume switch.  Santa's elves did not mention this feature on their North Pole Amazon reviews.

Books and book characters showed up

The dogs needed help with their stockings

Make a mental note of this, then compare to the end of day picture later

What can I say, the kid likes a box of beer and Dunkin' Donuts (and of course those fingers).  

After breakfast and opening more presents with the Robinsons, it was off to my parents' house for dinner and more festivities.  Avett was certainly more interested in presents this year, and got into the unwrapping game somewhat.  I'm sure next year will be a tornado of tape, bows and wrapping paper, but this year was a little more delicate.

Action shot / Uncle Kev sighting


Santa left a whole sack for this guy

Somehow, we only managed to get one family picture of the 3 of us on Christmas Day this year, and full disclosure: it came at the very end of the day.  I am embarrassed and don't know how we let this happen, but here it is.  

Ruth Ann looks great, Avett is DONE, and I've had too much turkey.  Obviously.

One of the presents for the moms was extra special this year.  My uber-talented friend Ouida helped me sneak in a quick photo session, spent way too much time making them extra fancy, and allowed me to surprise them with a framed version of this guy.


And the popular favorite

And some other great, great pics that are living over on Facebook.  Check them out and show Ouida some love!

Our final stop on the Christmas train came the following weekend and the kid was a hit, as usual.


Hey Grandpa, you'll hold my presents for me, right?  All of them, please.


And back home, snuggled up with a dog that's bigger than he is

We didn't let the dust settle long before looking ahead to New Year's Eve, and a concert with the Avett Brothers.  Now, it's no surprise to anyone here that we're big fans.  I could go into great detail of why, but I'll sum it up like this.  These guys are good dudes.  And I dare you to find another band with a banjo, acoustic guitar, cello and upright bass that can give you goosebumps one moment and have you jumping all over the place the next.  It's just good music that you feel in your soul and in your guts.

We've seen these guys a number of times (and are already planning for Merlefest in April, natch!), but this time we were up in the standing room front section.  Ruth Ann and baby 2 were troopers and we had an absolute blast.  

Proof:


With Passion

Family

Serious rocking in the background

Midnight!


Wheeeeeeeeeee!

Three words...

And just for fun, here's the countdown to midnight, captured by someone else near us.  Lots of balloons, LOTS of confetti.  Tons of fun.


And that about catches us up.  Happy New Year, everyone!  Make 2013 something special...