This winter we tried something new: Ice Fishing!

Dad purchased all sorts of fancy equipment (because mom says he only likes expensive hobbies) to keep us warm, safe, and looking good out on those lakes, and it was worth every penny! Now, our family will be able to survive the rest of winter without going hungry… thanks mostly to grocery stores, but also because of dedicated fisherman, like us, who not only sacrifice hours of sleep, but also trade fuzzy, fleece bedsheets for middle-of-the-lake ice shanties, in order to provide fresh-but-frozen fish for the desolate dinner table.

It wasn’t fun at all. Like, I’m surprised I’m even smiling in the below pictures. Seriously, no fun was had. Not even when we stopped at Kwik Trip afterward for smoothies and delicious breakfast sandwiches. Just hard, physically & mentally challenging, thankless work because that’s the price of entry for manhood.

You’re welcome.

Even the Omicron variant of COVID-19 couldn’t stop us from chasing piña coladas. So, on February 2, 2022, we masked up and reserved some last class seats on board a twinjet that was headed for humid breezes.

Given that this was my 5th return trip to the Moon Palace, I arrived on a first-name basis with Mexico, but it was a new and exciting experience to explore the resort with my main man, Colin!

We did ALL. OF. THE. THINGS. and we have the pictures to prove it:

We saw magic and sunrises, got pampered at the spa, swung on hammocks, caught footballs on land and water, conquered the wave rider, completed the ropes course (shaky knees and all), showed the arcade who was boss, encountered alligators and scorpions, made sweet pony friends, golfed 18 holes on a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, bowled our hearts out, splashed in a recently-opened waterpark, discovered new restaurants, accepted dad’s spicy food challenge, ordered room service to our swim up suite, embarked on a bicycle tour (and lived to tell the story of flipping over the handlebars), and soaked it all in from the comfort of our bubble bath… all while avoiding sunburn and testing negative on the COVID swab that determined whether we’d be allowed to return stateside.

See? ALL. OF. THE. THINGS.

Clearly, if you leave the Grand at Moon Palace without stories of a truly grand old time, you’re doing it wrong.

On January 26, Genesee turned 4.5.

In this new version of herself, little G loves going to school, packing barely-nutritious cold lunches, participating in the after-school program, befriending her 4K buddy Bennett, eating Tender White popcorn during movie nights, wearing one sock for no particular reason at all, and singing “This Girl is On Fire” with her studio-grade headphones on.

If she wasn’t my sister, I might admit that she’s pretty cute.

For New Year’s Eve, mom thought it would be fun to have a fancy candlelight dinner. In full support of this idea, Genesee excitedly set the table and put on her best unicorn dress. And even though I typically prefer a good sweatshirt and lounge pants, I was a pretty good sport, too. Because who doesn’t like to be wined and dined?! Truly, it was the sparkling grape juice for me, but the pecan-crusted chicken, mashed potatoes, and side of Cheetos were also quite marvelous.

After we toasted to the new year, Genesee and I made a list of intentions for 2022. While I plan to get busy seeing a few more national parks, Genesee hopes to steal less of mom’s makeup. To each their own, I guess. Then, we had a coloring contest, created a time capsule (not to be opened until after the year 2030), enjoyed a movie night in front of the fireplace (complete with hot chocolate, nachos, and popcorn), and stayed awake until midnight to ring in the new year. It was epic! Hopefully 2022 will live up to our hype.

When dad left for his hunting trip upon the conclusion of Christmas day, mom made lots of plans to keep us distracted from missing him. So after a great puzzle challenge, rock painting session, tent wars, arts & crafts class, Arby’s drive-thru dinner, swimming fun at Three Bears Resort, nerf gun battles, Texas Roadhouse treats, and a Colin sleepover, we were like, “Dad, who?”

Just kidding. Mom gave it her best effort, but in the end, she was unsuccessful at keeping all of the dad blues away… Not because mom needs to up her solo parenting game; it’s just that no one does fun quite like our dad and the days are more complete and joy-filled with him in them. Still, every once in a while, it’s good for us to remember that mom is also pretty fun not boring.

Christmas finally arrived in the Goodenough valley!

From the wonderment of Christmas Eve in Grandma & Grandpa’s living room…

to the exuberance of Christmas Day under our meatball-aroma-filled roof…

and amidst the new pet fish, the electric, light-up scooters, and our off-the-clock quality family time…

…it was worth the wait!

Waiting until December 23rd to make the annual trip to Rotary Lights for our in-person wishlist delivery was cutting it a little too close for comfort, but we got the job done, just in the “Nick” of time! (See what I did there?)

When I grow up, I want to live in a gingerbread house and eat Christmas cookies for breakfast each day.

That would be so sweet.

Guess who got cast as Santa in the Melrose-Mindoro holiday concert? (Answer: Me!)

I will now only respond to “Jaeger Clauss” from this day moving forward.

I’ll have you know that I nailed all of my lines, probably because I practiced them religiously for 3 weeks prior to my big acting debut. Unfortunately, my nightly live audience of mom, dad, and Genesee didn’t fully prepare me for the hundreds of eyes that looked back at me when I gazed into the crowd at the actual concert, but I’m still confident that you might find me on the big stage some day. So, let me know if you need an autograph now before I start charging money.

When you Fall quickly, but the memories sustain you through all of the seasons….