Unforeseen circumstances have prevented us from posting as often as we’d resolved to at the start of the year, but here’s a token effort: pictures from the 2012 Christmas season.

The festivities started off with the annual Girl Scout Father-Daughter dance. We had never attended in the past, but Julia’s troop was hosting this year and Julie was helping with setup (along with all the other moms), so it would have been a bit anti-social not to attend, even by my high standards. The dance was Western themed, so the months and months of junior high P.E. I spent doing square dancing finally paid off, just like Mr. Lansdown always said they would.

We spent the holidays themselves in Chicago with my family, where the kids were overwhelmed by Santa’s largesse. As excited as the kids were by Christmas morning, Julie and I were equally passionate about the prospect of getting everything home. In as sure a sign that miracles do happen as I’ve ever seen, everything made it back to California in one piece, including our collective sanity.

While we were in Illinois, we had a number of adventures. In addition to spending some quality time with the Shidle and Sass families—probably more than they bargained for—we visited my grandparents and spent Christmas evening with my Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary and my cousins Nick and Caitlin. Later in the week, we saw the Chicago (well, Rosemont) version of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the Rockettes. I was a little worried that it might be a bit beyond the kids’ ken, but it ended up being right up their alley.

At the tail end our trip, we paid a final visit to the Rolling Meadows Gino’s East, which is evidently being torn down to make room for a much-needed Panera. Aside from the fact that we love the pizza—in particular, I’m a fan of the sausage patty that covers the entire pie—its closure is depressing because, as Julie reminded me, it was the site of our first actual date. Yes, I took my future wife out for pizza on our first date. We also saw Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Has there ever been a more auspicious beginning?

At least our first date wasn’t at One Schaumburg Place.

More on the unforeseen circumstances in a bit.