Christmas 12-12-12: The Earth Will End

"Christmas, my child, is love in action. ... Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas."

We Must Play Golf And See Zack & Becca (On Our Last Day On Earth!)

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012 A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012 A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
The End Of The World is today!!

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
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Time For Golf

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Early morning swing at El Dorado Golf Course

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
The ball has no idea how much this is going to hurt

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012 A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012 A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012 A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012 A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Swooooooosh

OK... We Are Ready For Old Ranch Now

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Checkout the footprints.... Has someone been here before???

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Looks like James perhaps walked backwards??

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Studying the slopes

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012   A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012   A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012   A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012   A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012   A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
The magic tootpick is working...

Did You Know? - It is the oldest instrument for dental cleaning. Toothpicks are well known in all cultures. Before the toothbrush was invented, teeth were cleaned with hard and soft dental woods. Toothpicks made of bronze have been found as burial objects in prehistoric graves in Northern Italy and in the East Alps. It was also well known in Mesopotamia.

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Zack and Becca join up for a trip to Naples

Ancestors had tails
Sometimes we feel old when the grandkids as questions


A Walk Though Naples

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Checkout the self timer

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Run and jump in the picture

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
An aerial view

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
A daytime view and Not at Christmas

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
The magic happens

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Lights everywhere

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
The canals are ablaze with lights

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Time for dinner???

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
A stop by Mr. Gladstones

Did You Know? - The Christmas tree was adopted in upper-class homes in 18th-century Germany, where it was occasionally decorated with candles, which at the time was a comparatively expensive light source. Candles for the tree were glued with melted wax to a tree branch or attached by pins. Around 1890, candleholders were first used for Christmas candles. Between 1902 and 1914, small lanterns and glass balls to hold the candles started to be used. Early electric Christmas lights were introduced with electrification, beginning in the 1880s.

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Fixing the audio... We had Zack "Mr. Wizard" with us

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Griswald's Family Christmas was back

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Can you find the one that it out???

Did You Know? - In the United Kingdom, electrically powered Christmas lights are generally known as fairy lights. In 1881, the Savoy Theatre, London was the first building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity.

Sir Joseph Swan, inventor of the incandescent light bulb, supplied about 1,200 Swan incandescent lamps, and a year later, the Savoy owner Richard D'Oyly Carte equipped the principal fairies with miniature lighting supplied by the Swan United Electric Lamp Company, for the opening night of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Iolanthe on 25th November 1882.

The term fairy lights for a string of electrically powered christmas lights has been in common usage in the UK ever since.

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
The reflections were great

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
The lighting is quite well done

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Tonight is judging night... A 1938 cartoon from Disney was playing in the window

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Wow!

Did You Know? - The first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree was the creation of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of inventor Thomas Edison.

While he was vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, a predecessor of today's Con Edison electric utility, he had Christmas tree light bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed his Christmas tree, which was hand-wired with 80 red, white and blue electric incandescent light bulbs the size of walnuts, on December 22, 1882 at his home on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Local newspapers ignored the story, seeing it as a publicity stunt. However, it was published by a Detroit newspaper reporter, and Johnson has become widely regarded as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights. By 1900, businesses started stringing up Christmas lights behind their windows.

Christmas lights were too expensive for the average person; as such, electric Christmas lights did not become the majority replacement for candles until 1930.

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Not a spot left for any additional lights

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Frosty is peeking out

To Gladstones For Dinner

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Crab legs anyone???

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
I am eating my veggies...

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Hamburgers at a sea food restaurant? YES, when it is the best in town

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Chomp!

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Watching our diets

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
I am doing pretty good...

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
The Cotton Candy Girl

Did You Know? - Cotton candy (US, India, Canada), candy floss or candyfloss (UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa), or fairy floss (Australia) is a form of spun sugar. Since cotton candy is mostly air, a small initial quantity of sugar generates a tremendously greater final volume, causing servings to be physically large and voluminous. A typical serving on a stick is approximately one ounce/30 grams.

It is sometimes sold in bags containing several servings (see accompanying photos). Cotton candy is often served at carnivals or circuses. Food coloring can be used to change the natural white color. There are many flavors, including strawberry, lemonade, blueberry, lime, grape, orange, watermelon, pineapple mango, and more. A similar confectionery is the Persian Pashmak, and the Turkish Pişmaniye, although the latter is made with flour and water in addition to sugar.

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
"I can do this...."

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Carri assisted in the devourement

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
OMG... It might take over Long Beach

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Someone likes cotton candy

Did You Know? - About Cotton Candy:

  • America celebrates National Cotton Candy Day on December 7th
  • Cotton candy was originally called fairy floss
  • In 1920 fairy floss was re-named cotton candy
  • Cotton candy contains only one ingredient: sugar

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Let's go plant one in Becca's front yard

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Huge

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
A halo for Jon

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Don't drop it....

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
"It's so very pretty!!"

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
Zack cannot watch it....

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
OMG... You are scaring the little kids

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012
$1,000,000 smile

A relaxing day with the grandkids  December 2012