Written By: Joe and Caroline Ludwig
You may have noticed that we haven’t been keeping our normal blogging schedule. To be completely honest with you, the last month or so has been a whirlwind. We are going to attempt to catch you up on what’s been happening at the Ludwig house, starting with Thanksgiving through Christmas and into the New Year.
Beer, Booze, Bonks, Festival
The week before Thanksgiving, Caroline and I went to a beer festival called Beer, Booze, and Bonks curated by The Gnarly Gnome and Cincy By The Pint, two “influencers” in the Cincinnati craft beer scene. We both had a great time at the event. You can hear us talk all about our experience at the festival in this recent episode of The Craft Parenting Podcast but I want to reiterate how grateful both Caroline and I both are that we were able to get out of the house and attend this wonderful event.
Thanksgiving Week
Fast forward to Monday, November 22, and our house was invaded by the sickness (not COVID-19). By the time Thanksgiving came, the kids were mostly better and they were able to enjoy it…four times in a row.
On Thanksgiving day for lunch, we had a turkey with all of the fixings at my mom and dad’s house. It was a small gathering with just the immediate family. We were lucky enough to squeeze in a nap for the kids that afternoon.
After the kids woke up we hopped in the van and drove all the way to the east side of town where my aunt hosted Thanksgiving dinner. It was great to see family in person and catch up with everyone. Lilly and Elliot were the youngest kids there. They enjoyed the attention. They got to see my grandmother as well.
Black Friday
On Black Friday, we mostly stayed home and rested. Even before Caroline and I had kids, we weren’t into doorbuster deals. However, during the kids’ naptime, I escaped to West Side Brewing. They released a few special beers but I purchased their Imperial Stout with Cold Brew. By the way, this beer is fantastic!
For dinner, Caroline cooked a turkey breast and made all of the fixings for our third Thanksgiving dinner in two days. Elliot and Lilly were very big fans.
Small Business Saturday
On Saturday, November 27, we got some delicious coffee at White Oak Coffee House, one of our go-to local coffee shops. All of the indooor seating was taken, but we got some coffee and snacks to go. We took the kids to West Fork Park with the intention of tiring out Lilly so she would hopefully nap earlier than usual. Our fourth and final Thanksgiving celebration was in the evening and started during the end of Lilly’s usual nap time. Lilly enjoyed running around the park and went down the big slide with her mama. Elliot, meanwhile, tolerated being in his “Ewok” fleece while watching his big sister run around. It won’t be too much longer until he will be able to run around with her.
Lunch was accompanied by an alternative rock music jam session and Lilly went down for a nap with minimal resistance. I have no idea what the kids ate for dinner since my parents had Elliot and my sister was in charge of Lilly. I do know that Lilly had a cookie she decorated herself piled with icing and sprinkles because there was photographic evidence. Caroline tied fleece blankets for her craft fair while we talked with family after dinner and we went home at bedtime. After the kids went to bed Caroline did the final prep for her craft fair the next morning.
Caroline’s Creative Crafts Returns
Before we had kids, Caroline started her very own side hustle called “Caroline’s Creative Crafts”. She would periodically go to local craft shows and sell items that she made. Life happened and over the last couple of years, she hasn’t been as active as she used to be. So when Happy Hangouts announced their first annual craft fair, she jumped at the chance to get back into the craft fair scene. It was a smaller craft fair but she was happy to attend and was ultimately satisfied with the sales. If you are interested in following Caroline’s Creative Crafts, you may do so on Facebook and Instagram.
Holiday Fun
Our family of four did quite a lot between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Caroline, as you may be aware, was offered a new job and was able to negotiate a week off during the transition. On the last day of her old job, West Side Brewing released Krampus Coal which is a Vanilla Baltic Porter. Additionally, they welcomed the demons of Krampuslauf of Zinzinnati, which is a group of people who dress up as Krampus. Santa Claus was also there.
We wanted to celebrate Caroline’s new job so we brought the kids to West Side Brewery for a drink (or two) and a quick dinner. Surprisingly, the kids didn’t seem to mind all of the “weirdos” dressed up as Krampus. The Lübecker Food Truck was there serving some delicious German-themed cuisine and it was all for a good cause because a portion of the proceeds went back to the Boys and Girls Club.
During Caroline’s week off, she took the kids to see the train exhibit at the Krohn Conservatory. They went first thing in the morning and unfortunately, I couldn’t go because I had to work. But I am told that Lilly really enjoyed watching all of the trains and looking at the flowers.
Also during Caroline’s transition period between jobs, we ventured out to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. It was one of the coldest nights of the year so far and it was really early in the season so it wasn’t super crowded, which was nice. I think Lilly’s mind was blown when she saw how big the Christmas tree was. Elliot was dressed in his “Ewok” suite and gave us the dirtiest looks. It was pretty funny.
We talk about our experience at all three of these places in great detail in a recent episode of The Craft Parenting Podcast. You can check out that episode here.
“No Halloween”
As Christmas drew closer and closer, we started to teach Lilly to say things like “Merry Christmas” and we did our best to show her the Christmas lights that people put up in the neighborhood. We’ve been doing this for all of the major holidays. For example, in October we taught her to say “Happy Halloween” and “Trick or Treat”. And in November, we taught her all about what a turkey says. For whatever reason, Halloween really made an impression on her because every time we wished her a “Merry Christmas” she always replied “No Halloween”. To this day she is convinced that it is Halloween. Talk about misinformation.
For your enjoyment, here is the tape to prove it.
Christmas with the Family
Christmas Eve arrived and we were expected to be at my mom and dad’s house before the kids napped because my brother and his fiancé had to be somewhere that evening. So we packed the kids into the van around 12:30 and we were off to the first of three Christmas celebrations. I discovered that the proper way to drink a Great Lakes Christmas Ale was to put cinnamon sugar along the rim of the pint glass. I’ve never heard of that before so I experimented with it and I got to say it did not dissappoint.
We spent Christmas Day at home. The kids opened their presents from Mom and Dad and Santa (two totally different entities!). We spent the day getting ready to have Caroline’s mom, stepdad, stepbrother, and nephews over for dinner. Caroline made pork loin and some great sides for dinner. Larry brought a bourbon barrel-aged wine to share and it was interesting. I had no idea that you could age wine in bourbon barrels.
Our third and final Christmas celebration was held on Sunday, December 26. Everyone on my Dad’s side gathered at my Oma’s house for presents and appetizers. The best way to describe this gathering is pure chaos. Between Caroline and myself plus all of my cousin’s, there are seven great-grandchildren between the ages of 10 months and 14 years old. The big Christmas gift this year was the virtual reality games. All of the older kids played it nonstop while the older adults laughed at how ridiculous they looked with those goggles over their eyes. I now know how my parents felt when they saw my cousins and I played our Game Boy colors nonstop.
The “Sickness” and New Year
I always really look forward to the week between Christmas and New Year’s. I never feel guilty taking off work because no one is at the office. Plus now that we have two young kids, it is an opportunity to spend time with them, uninterrupted. This year we planned to do all kinds of things. Drive around and see Christmas Lights. Maybe go out to eat. Perhaps the Children’s Museum. We had a babysitter scheduled to come over and watch the kids while Caroline and myself went to the Mug Club appreciation dinner at West Side Brewing. However, the universe had different plans.
Around lunchtime on Monday, December 27 I received a call from my mom telling me that my sister took a at-home test and tested positive for “the sickness”. Coincidently, just before we received this call, Lilly was acting very cranky and felt warm to me. I am told that my hands are always cold so whenever I feel someone’s forehead to check their temperature they always feel warm to me. But I decided to grab a thermometer and check just to be safe. Her temperature was indeed elevated. Long story short, we scheduled a test and she tested positive for “the sickness”. Caroline and I got symptoms the next day and Elliot, unfortunately, got symptoms two days later. The rest of us took tests and we all tested positive.
If you ever want to test your patience as a human, have your two-year-old get sick first, spread it to the entire family, and then bounce back with all of the energy while the rest of the family is ill. The good news is that everyone recovered and the symptoms weren’t severe. Everyone except Caroline had a fever of some kind but it was regulated successfully with medicine. However, this meant that we couldn’t go anywhere. Disney+ was definitely our friend during this time. Lilly really got into the animated movie Lilo and Stitch. We watched that movie pretty much nonstop.
We didn’t have plans on New Year’s Eve anyway since the people who usually host a party couldn’t host it this year (they were about to have a baby or something). So the plan was always to watch Star Wars: A New Hope and blow up the Death Star at midnight. It’s something that the co-host of Rebel Force Radio started years and years ago and it’s always been something that I wanted to try.
We didn’t get the opportunity to watch the entire movie (though it was playing in the background) because Elliot’s symptoms peaked on New Year’s Eve. His congestion got so problematic that we spent a good portion of our evening in the master bathroom with the shower running, trying to get him to breathe in the steam. I don’t know what I did wrong but for some reason, I was off by like 18 seconds or something. Elliot eventually calmed down and went to sleep for the night without any further incidents. Lilly meanwhile slept through all of this. Our kids like their sleep.
Today, everyone is better for the most part besides a lingering cough here or there. We are bummed that we couldn’t spend our week off out and about but we are also grateful that we recovered.
Do I regret celebrating Christmas with family? No, I don’t. I feel very strongly that it is our jobs as parents to give our children good memories. I feel it is important that we provide them with as normal of an experience as possible. I’m not saying that we don’t take precautions. We do. I’m not saying that we are careless when we go out. We aren’t. I’m just saying that it’s not fair to them to only be able to see the four walls of our living room 24/7. They need to be kids and see their extended family. Those memories are priceless.
Anyway, I hope that everyone had a great holiday season. I hope that you are in good health and that you have a great 2022. I know that we have some great things planned for 2022 so make sure you check back here often and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube!
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