Planning a Little Break

I'm considering sending Grace to Grandma's today. Grace returns to school on Wednesday, and after spending two solid weeks with her during the holidays, I still need to navigate two extra days. It's not that the holidays haven’t been a blast — I've really enjoyed spending time with the little turkey — but I’m craving some time to myself. I just want one solid six-hour block where Liz is at work, Grace is at school, and I can do my own thing.

Family Game Time

One of the highlights of our family time has been a new favorite: the Knock Knock Game. We sit in a circle and take turns making up original jokes (usually knock-knock jokes), and the person who gets the biggest laughs wins. Lately, Liz has been less enthusiastic about the game, probably because the last time we played, I ribbed her jokes instead of encouraging her. A rookie mistake, because in this game, encouragement matters — for every good joke, there are at least ten lame ones.

As the "man of the house," my job seems to be to take the harshest criticism and get the least amount of laughs, which everyone executes flawlessly. Still, I usually manage to squeeze out a few laughs.

A Zoo Trip and Some Unexpected Moments

We also took a family trip to the zoo. I had a weird Mandela Effect moment — I could’ve sworn the three of us had gone to the zoo just a week or so earlier. Turns out, it was just Grace and me, and we hadn't been there together as a family in a long time.

Grace’s favorite part of the zoo isn’t the animals — it’s the drink and lolly machines tucked under the lookout area in the African Safari section. That’s the real main attraction for her.

On our way to that area, we got a surprise: the elephants were having sex. The big bull elephant’s, well, package became an unexpected source of laughter for the crowd. Grace, being innocent, thought they were fighting. After that spectacle, we made a quick pit stop at the toilets before heading back into town to hit the library.

Attached is a book I made today...

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