2017-2018 holidays, part 2

Nothing like a snow day to get caught up on some home projects, including blog updates...The several inches of snow that fell overnight wouldn't amount to much in the Northwoods, but here it means Bragg Family South stays home today.  So, I start this continuation of the 2017-18 holiday season adventure with the beginning of the trip--a performance of the Nutcracker by the Moscow Ballet in Little Rock.  We drove from Monticello and checked into a hotel right next to the concert hall, after which we joined the crowd for an entertaining performance:

Believe it or not, this was the first time I've ever sat through the entire Nutcracker (live performance or movie version)!  I enjoyed it, as did most of the rest of the family (with exception of Kenny; more on that later).  We left the hotel very early the next morning to drive all the way to Madison, Wisconsin.  En route, we stopped just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, to visit an antique mall that always intrigued us with the "flair" it shows on the outside:

Our hard, first-day drive was to join some of my family and their significant others at Bistro 101, the excellent restaurant my brother-in-law Mark Valaskey is the chef and part-owner of in Mt. Horeb.  Below is a picture of the bulk of the group:

After another excellent dinner, we spent the night with Bob and Nancy before heading up to my parents' house in Rhinelander.  We only spent a night there before heading to my sister Lisa's house to join most of the family for the Christmas holiday.  Below, some of the cousins jumped right into a game of chess (Michael won):

Mom was feeling rather festive in her well-lit holiday-themed necklace:

and plenty of visiting was had:

Dad settled into a comfortable chair in the living room, enjoying the conversations:

My sister Laurie ("Lulu") was in the mix of things, too.  Beth had an inspiration, and talked two of her cousins and a couple of her aunts into putting on some Grinchy outfits:

Beth also spent plenty of time holding her youngest cousin, August, son of my niece Susan:

We spent Christmas Eve and most of Christmas day at Colfax before returning to Rhinelander.  The weather had turned very cold, with nights well below minus 20, and some days 10 below or less.  We still managed to get out a few times to enjoy the woods; the bundle below is my bride, Hope, posing roughly where we took some of our wedding pictures in 1996:

Not everyone had the same chance to enjoy the cold and snow--Kenny had come down with some kind of bug just as we started this trip, and by mid-week had a severe infection of some of his glands, prompting a quick trip to the doctor for some steroid shots and antibiotics:

(I guess there was a good reason he didn't enjoy the Nutcracker much!).  He started feeling better pretty quickly, but he stayed home on our traditional trip to Houghton, Michigan, and environs.  Too bad, because in addition to getting pasties and smoked fish, he missed out on the bumper snow they've had this year, as demonstrated by Hope:

We had a good visit with my parents and some friends, had a great Friday fish fry at a local supper club, and got to watch the Badgers will the Orange Bowl in Wisconsin.  Our week in Wisconsin completed, we drove to Whitmore Lake, Michigan, on New Year's Eve, arriving in plenty of time to help Hope's dad Rich enjoy a photo album Christmas gift:

Our visit to Michigan also brought about a lot of fun, including a quick trip to see a frozen Niagara Falls:

As you can see in the picture above, Kenny enjoyed this part of the trip, but Beth (below) didn't quite relish the cold wind:

She did, however, enjoy her variation of the Canadian comfort food known as poutine:

Rich has spent quite a bit of time setting up part of his basement as a entertainment area, with a pool table and dart board:

He also showed all of us how the game is played...the kids spent quite a bit of time polishing their skills, too.  All too soon, though, we had to head back to Arkansas.  Our trip back was uneventful (which is good).  I'll leave this blog post with a final picture from the trip down--the amazingly huge flock of geese we encountered in eastern Arkansas:

This picture doesn't do it justice--I would guess this flock, which extends both directions MUCH farther than the lens could capture...and that includes the sky...  It wouldn't surprise me if this flock had a million birds, and perhaps more--a stunning sight, for sure!!