One last adventure of 2018

We took off today for one last adventure of 2018.  Our destination was a quaint town within an hour's drive for some flea market and antique shopping.  It was a very fun day all spent together--no tech, surrounded by treasures of the past.  

And I got to try out the fish eye lens accessory on my cell phone camera (a fun Christmas present). 

Cracker Barrel for a late lunch and early dinner. 

The kids' treasures:

Michael--a wooden samurai sword, bottle caps and foreign coins, stamps to add to his collection, a vintage book containing Robin Hood and The Last of the Mohicans, a gyrowheel and an electric guitar pencil sharpener.  

Daniel--a stein mug, Thomas Paine pamphlet from the 1920s, a framed photo of Zorro and Star Trek: The Next Generation comic books

Tera--a beanie, a lantern and her first vinyl! 

I found some cool hooks for the house, a basket to corral the things around my bed and a North American animal guide.  

And we even had our picture taken with Mrs. Claus... (and received a copy for each of us from the kind antique store owners)

My heart has needed a day of adventure with my bunch for a long time!  A perfect day....

Glimpses of Christmas--2018

Our friends and family showered us with gifts this season...

Finally, got a Fitbit!  

Funniest gift of the day...

Santa gifts...

JP and I have been working on a special gift for Michael for a few months now.  I envisioned a Lego table with storage and found tons of ideas online, but nothing that would really work for us.  That's where my brilliant husband comes in with all my "crazy" ideas.  I had quite a few qualifications:  1.  It must have lots of storage and I liked the storage making the base of the table.  2.  A lightweight table top that looked "neat" and not salvaged (even if it was, I didn't want it to look like it.)  3.  It needed a backboard, so Michael could do his stop-motion videos.   

After looking all over for something already pre-made and coming up empty, JP put together this awesome LEGO table system that fits PERFECTLY!  First, he cut down a free cork board he got from work and re-framed it.  Then, he bought a hollow core door to put on top of the storage bins I ordered from Amazon.  The cork board is screwed to the door for stability and he added a couple of "legs" to also help with that.  

At first, Michael didn't know what he was looking at when he came upstairs for the reveal UNTIL he opened the base plates I purchased and wrapped.  

More blessings...

JP's favorite picture of the day...

Stockings...

 It was a great Christmas!