Martha's Marvellous Munchies

View Larger Map The day after Christmas Day we set off for the longest drive we have yet done in Texas: the ten-hour trip to the Gulf of Mexico.  Would you like to spend ten hours all at once in a car with a wriggly one-year-old?  No, nor did we.  Fortunately my (English) cousin was staying in the Hill Country with his (Texan) wife and their three gorgeous girls, which provided the perfect excuse to stop halfway. Fredericksburg Christmas tree Even if they hadn't been there, we still might have stopped in Fredericksburg.  It's a busy little town with a strong German influence and lots of Christmas lights.  We'd passed through before but enjoyed the chance to stay a bit longer.  The highlight of the decorations was the giant Christmas pyramid, crafted in Germany and shipped over at some vast expense. Learn all about it! Joe and Amie met us there, and we strolled down the street, sampling ice cream, sausages and beer as we went.  The...

Christmas Eve: a Skype chat with my parents, a candlelit carol service and a glass of sherry and a piece of Christmas cake to round it all off. (The sherry purchased with some difficulty from the local liquor store: "Chevy? Like the car?" and finally located in a dusty corner on the bottom shelf.  Not a popular tipple here, then.) Toby helps Dad unwrap his Christmas presents. Look! A new book! Santa? Are you in there? Someone forgot to put ice cream on this scoop! Brrrmm, brrrrmmm!  Toby loves trucks! Our Advent calendar, which featured something to add to the tree each day, and is the only one I've seen with twenty- five doors - the large star on top was our Christmas Day treat. Lamb is a rarity here, so lamb shanks were our treat for Christmas dinner. Look at me in my new hoodie! Look at me in my new down bodywarmer! Gotta have a trip to the playground even if it is Christmas Day. Christmas tea was cheese and cracke...

Three days before Christmas and I am realising that if any of 2011 remains unblogged-about after today, it will probably remain so for evermore.  So I'll fly back a couple of months and give you a quick scattershot tour of our latest trip to the UK. To start with, our flight was cancelled and we had to come home and try again the next day.  Fortunately Toby regarded DFW Airport as a super-huge playground filled with nice people who smiled at him.  We just had to prevent him from throwing himself under luggage carts. Toby at the airport Toby slept like the proverbial baby on the aeroplane, but once we arrived he started sleeping like a real baby - that is, up and screaming half the night.  Our friends Naomi and Steve suffered through one night with us, although we were told they had a giggle at us desperately intoning, "You are feeling sleeee-py", in harmony, at 2 am.  With very little effect.  Our one consolation was that their baby didn't wake up ...