Run Fox Run

So possibly, it was a mistake to have taken the girls to see a local performance of “Meet Me in St. Louis,” about a month before our trip to St. Lucia, because not a day went by without a chorus of Meet Me in St. Lucia, Lucia…meet me at the beach. Papa, who can always be counted on for silliness, happily joined in with each chorus. We had a terrific two weeks with Grandma and Papa, although we all wished the Crawfords had been there too. St. Lucia’s got a wide variety of beach types, on both its Caribbean and Atlantic coasts, and everything from rainforests to volcanoes. This family tradition of a tropical holiday trip is a pretty special one. It’s an awfully nice way to let go of one year’s baggage and get the new year off to a sandy, on-island-time start.

The best thing about Traditions is that sometimes you’re there to see a new one created. This year we saw the birth of the Sunset Club, a nightly meeting Leda & Cleo held with their grandparents on the patio as the sun melted into the sea. The rules were simple: 1) Leda was in charge; 2) Everyone was required to have his or her beverage of choice in hand; 3) In turn, each member shared one favorite memory of the day, and one element of tomorrow they were especially looking forward to; 4) Leda, and only Leda, was permitted to adjourn the meeting. Below, the St. Lucia version of Sunset club, as they looked at the outset of 2012. Many, many more photos in the album.

Sunset Club, St. Lucia

Hanukkah and Christmas overlapped this year, leading to an all-inclusive holiday bonanza at the Rossmann house. Even more joyous was the company of Grandma Jeanette and Grandpa Dave. Leda and Cleo agree that the top gift this year was the remote control Shark that Santa brought (and Daddy spent 90 minutes filling, assembling, and testing). Photos of all the festivities are in the album…Happy 2012!

We spent a wonderful week back in the Bay Area for the Big Game and Thanksgiving. From Zachary’s to dim sum, to the Prime Rib to beer puffs, to the meal itself, prepared by Rossmanns and Goldsmiths and eaten high on a hill in Orinda — we ate our way through the week! Photos of meals, and our few non-eating-related activities, in the album. We were immensely grateful for all of it.

So perhaps you’ve heard tell of the freak October snowstorm (“They’re called Noreasters,” our fourth-grade neighbor informed me) that caught us all by surprise last week. We got under a foot of snow, but it was heavy and wet enough, and the trees still leafy enough, that the ensuing damage knocked out power lines and blocked roadways. Halloween, for us, was postponed.

A week off from school, with no power or heat; that’s a lot of crafts and board games. We were lucky to have great neighbors and friends who rallied. Our culdesac bonded over one woman’s stovetop coffee percolator, one family’s gas-powered generator, and shared use of a chainsaw. A caravan of cherry picker trucks on the freeway, coming from Philly and even Ohio to come to our aid: a moving reminder of the way crises can bring out our best, most generous instincts.

Happy Halloween to you and yours. Our festivities are fully documented in the album.

October is birthday month for the greater Rossmann family: Lynn, Maya, Alaina, Leda, Toby, Andrew, and now Paige all celebrate within two weeks. Locally, we marked Leda’s birthday with a terrific visit from Grandma Jeanette, and a pool party. Seven. Seven! Tall, outgoing, cheerful, brave, sensitive, and seven. It’s been pretty awesome getting to know you so far, Leds. Many more years.