Every year, one of my favorite customers hosts a breakfast with Santa and we have been lucky enough to be invited for the last few years. Here’s what happened when Santa left a voice mail for us about the upcoming breakfast:
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Here’s Aliya’s letter to Santa for this year (click on it to view it as a larger image):

On the way home from Myrtle Beach we went to the aquarium in Baltimore. The aquarium was nice, but the hotel was in downtown Baltimore which was pretty dicey.

On the way to Myrtle Beach we stopped in DC for the night and went to the zoo in the morning to burn off some energy. It was great! And free!

Electronics Devices You Need For a 1700-Mile Family Road Trip

~ TomTom One GPS – This thing is my new favorite possession. I bought it for $168 on eBay, and I can’t live without it. It’s so easy to program – you just tell it where you want to go and it plans the route. The one time we ventured out for a 5-block trip without TomTom ended with yelling and crying. On the way home there were some flashing signs warning of an accident ahead, so I told TomTom to go around a 3-mile roadblock and it found me a new route. The only negative is that when you’re sitting in traffic you watch your ETA get later and later. We got stuck getting on the GW Bridge and there was no way around the traffic. When we finally got over the bridge our ETA had slipped to 2:25 a.m. Ugh. I do wish I had splurged on the Mr. T voice so I could hear “I PITY THE FOOL WHO DOESN’T BEAR RIGHT AND GET ON THE HIGHWAY!” We used one of the British voices so Adlani was constantly repeating in an English accent, “Keep right, and enter the motorway.”

~ Dual Screen DVD Player – I was really worried about how the kids would survive the trip but it was like a dream come true for Adlani – constant movies and junk food for 36 hours punctuated by trips through the drive-thru. What could top that?

~ Extra DVD Player with Headphones – for Aliya to watch “her” movies or listen to CD’s when she had seen The Incredibles (or as Adlani says, “The Uncrustables”) one too many times.

~ Blackberry – so I could pass the time emailing my coworkers to make them feel sorry for me, or let the kids call unsuspecting relatives for entertainment. Also good for checking upcoming Cracker Barrel locations.

~ iPod – This came in very handy when Ben passed the Starbucks I had been searching 4 hours and 18 minutes for because I didn’t say “please.” WTF?? Some might call a 200-mile Dixie Chicks sing-a-long passive/aggressive behavior. I call it payback.

~ Standard Issue Dodge Controls (power windows, seatbelt warning, heat controls) – Also good for payback when the ignoramus is trying to sleep. Sudden braking also works well.

~ Digital Camera – so I could take cute nap-time pictures and landmarks like the pawn shop with the sign that said, “Good Used Guns.” In a pinch I could also use it to entertain Norah by looking at pictures on the 1-inch display.

~ 3-Way Splitter for Cigarette Lighter – I’m surprised the current draw for all of these electronic devices didn’t drain the battery dry.

~ Leapster – Two of these kept both of the big kids busy for a while and I’m confident that with the help of Little Leap Adlani will eventually stop singing “A says Guh”.

~ Last but not least, the item that I will be adding to my packing list for the next road trip – a 12-volt version of Ping so I can have some shiatsu love during the ride. Finally, a backrub that I don’t have to “pay” for, if you know what I mean.