We went out to Lake Sylvia on Sunday. We had a picnic lunch. Then we hiked around to the dam and fished for a while. After that, it was time to cool off, so we walked over to the swimming area. Caleb got really brave and jumped off the dock three times.

The civil defense sirens were going off last night - on two separate occasions. A tornado did hit NLR, but I didn’t see it - but I did try. Everyone else was in the tornado drill position.

This is Caleb and his snow-Peyton (he says it was too small to be a snowman).

Garrett has been scoring a lot, but all of his shots have been right under the goal. This was the first outside shot he took all year.

Wednesday was the last day of school for a while, so Garrett’s class had a Christmas party in the afternoon. Lindsay, Caleb, and Peyton walked up to the school to be at the party. Garrett and Caleb had a good time. Peyton fell asleep.

We went to Motley’s Christmas Tree Farm and cut our own tree.  I felt like such a Griswold.

Our Thanksgiving tradition:  burn stuff.

Garrett also likes eating  stuff.

Peyton thought it was cold on Thanksgiving day.

Garrett says that he and God made this vine.  He had been swinging on it all summer after he ripped the roots out of the ground.  Thanksgiving morning he went up he hill to swing on it.  I was walking through the cabin towards the glass doors just as he swung out so I could see how, just as he was reaching the peak of his swing, the vine broke into three big pieces.  Luckily, Garrett fell into a pile of leaves.  When I got out there, he said he had broken his leg.  Of course, that was a bit of an exaggeration.  Lindsay asked Caleb if he had helped Garrett when he fell.  Caleb’s response:  “No, he fell all on his own.”

We camped out at South Maumee on the Buffalo National River.  The campground was well-maintained for being so far off the beaten path (11 miles down a dirt road after you turn off Highway 27).