Mele Kalikimaka!

Amazingly, surprisingly, unbelievably, this is the last Christmas of the "aughts." As 2009 comes to an end, both the century (and all of our kids) will be entering their teens.

Next year Alyssa will be 19 and David will be 13.

Bret Jr. will be a teenager in 2011. Kekoa will be a teen in 2013. Nalani in 2015.

And our little baby Malia wil be a teenager in 2016.

I am not looking forward to this decade.

But alas, before 2009 comes to an end, I thought it would be nice to post a few pictures in celebration of Christmas at the Bicoy home and share a bit of news from the last year...



That, my friends, is what a Christmas tree looks like when surrounded by presents for six kids.

The tree is in our dining room, so Christmas morning began with a caravan of kids carrying Christmas presents into the living room...



Malia was giddy with excitement while Bretty tried to carry everything at once...



The kids set up all over the floor...



And the adventure of Christmas morning began!

Our first daughter Alyssa loved her gifts of socks and a sock puppet...



That young lady really loves her socks!

While I cannot quite believe it myself, Alyssa really is a young lady. She graduated from high school earlier this year and was accepted by several colleges. But as the year progressed, she decided to take some time off before going to college. She is now working full-time and saving money until she's ready to futher her education.

Alyssa had enough credits to graduate from high school a semester early which meant she got to go with me to Hawaii earlier this year to celebrate my father's 86th birthday. We figure she earned that after working so hard in school.

Over the last few years, Alyssa has also become quite a talented musician. She plays guitar and sings quite well. Have a listen yourself...



Our oldest son David may be about to turn 13, but he's like his Dad and still gets excited when someone gives him a cool toy for Christmas like a Star Trek phaser...



David is in 7th grade and has become an artist himself. He draws wonderfully well and although he says he doesn't like to paint, I have one of his wonderful paintings hanging in my office.

Like me, David likes hats. But the word "likes" does not do justice to his passion. David is a hat fanatic. And I do not use the word "fanatic" casually.

David has more hats than you can imagine, and he's always on the lookout for more. The only time David isn't wearing a hat is at school - where they are prohibited. He puts one on when he wakes up in the morning, places it on his chair at the dining room table before heading out the door to school. Then he puts it back on the moment he walks back into the house.

And every single day it's a different hat.

Ya gotta love the boy's commitment!

Bret Jr. wanted only one thing for Christmas, so of course we kept him waiting through piles of presents before he got it. You can see the sheer joy on his face when he opened his gift and found Madden 2010 for the Wii...



Bret Jr. is now in 5th grade and is quickly becoming quite an athlete. He absolutely loves playing football. Bret's favorite position is defensive tackle because that puts him right in the middle of the chaos. At that position he can use his natural talent for being disruptive!

When football season was over, Bretty was heartbroken and didn't know what to do with himself. Cari suggested that he consider playing basketball, but he just wasn't interested. But at the last minute, Bret showed up for the first meeting and that was all it took.

We thought our weeks were busy with football - but at least they only played a game once a week. It seems we're at one of Bretty's basketball games every other day!

For Christmas Kekoa received his very own set of real tools and he quickly got to work building a jewelry box for his sister Malia...



Our youngest son is in third grade and is actively participating in Destination Imagination. "DI" is a program in which Kekoa's team will compete with those from other schools using their minds in creative ways. Kekoa's team's project is to build a robot and create a story surrounding it.

When he's not using his wonderful imagination, Kekoa likes using his quick moves to run around the football field as well. He played flag football this year for the Cowboys - which also happens to be his favorite NFL team!

At Christmas, nobody likes to be surprised quite as much as Nalani.



Nalani tears into the wrapping paper like a crazy person, but she won't look down at the gift until the very last second. This makes for the most unusual pictures as she looks away from the present while she's opening it.

That's Nalani. Everything she does, she does with panache.

Our middle daughter is in second grade and is the most popular girl in class, naturally. She also loves to dance, but I think she loves the fancy and frilly outfits even more.

When it comes to opening Christmas presents, however, nobody does it with more pure joy than our Malia...



With each and every present, Malia shouts with overwheming enthusiasm, "I always wanted this!" Her reaction makes you want to keep giving her gift after gift.

Either she's the most genuinely happy person you'll ever meet - or she's incredibly devious and has figured out how to get her Daddy to give her presents. I will enjoy my paternal delusion and opt to believe the former.

Malia started kindergarten this year and was very excited on her first day of school. It's hard to believe that our little baby girl is now 6 years old!

So that was our Christmas and another year in the life of the Bicoy family.

Cari spends most of her days chasing after our children from a practice to a game to the next recital. She's talked about going back to work now that all our children are in school. But I don't have any interest in helping out with the laundry so I'm hoping she'll get over that idea real soon. Cari also still organizes her bookclub (which the kids love because it means Dad's bringing home McDonalds on those days).

I continue to have the privilege of working for the Door County Community Foundation and do some consulting on the side through my own little firm. I've also been helping my sister to document our family tree - which you'll see at bicoy.com is quite an undertaking.

We're still lucky enough to live among the shorelines, art galleries and music festivals of Door County, Wisconsin - about the most beautiful place you'll find in the Midwest.

From our family to yours, Mele Kalikimaka, Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and enjoy the solstice. Geez, I can't keep up with all that. So how 'bout we end the year with just a plain ol' hau'oli makahiki hou.

Bret & Cari

Basketball and Ballet

Actually, with all our kids, it's Basketball, Ballet, Gymnastics, and Destination Imagination.

Nary a day goes by without our having to be somewhere cheering on someone.

Over the last week we attended two of Bret Jr.'s basketball games. Unfortunately, neither of the games played by our Sturgeon Bay Clippers was at home.

First, the Clippers visited Algoma - which is on about 40 minutes southwest of where we live. The next day Bret's team played Gibraltar - which is about 40 minutes northeast of where we live. It's a good thing I've got great winter tires on my car.

Bret loved playing football, but wasn't so sure about basketball. After a few games, he's sure he loves it now...



Bret's still working on improving his shot...



But he's one of his team's best defensive players. Here he is about to slap out the ball from an unsuspecting player...



I think he just imagines the ball is the head of one of his sisters and he just tries to smack it as cleanly as possible.

Bret also does a good job using his body and bulk to muscle himself into position to grab rebounds...



I like this next picture because it shows how he's willing to throw his body into the mess to get the rebound (or just push out a few of the other guys so one of his guys can get the ball!)...



The way he chases it, you'd think that the basketball was filled with chocolate donuts.

This next one is far too blurry a picture, but watch my son leave his feet and reach for the ball!



During his last game I witnessed something I've never seen before at a basketball game. The ball got caught on the back rim of the basket...



Look closely at the picture below. The ball isn't jammed between the rim and the backboard - we've all seen that on occasion.

The ball is just sitting there on the back of the rim. The shot just barely hit the rim and spun around it until the ball came to a complete stop...



The whole crowd broke into laughter!

We also had the chance to watch Nalani in her ballet and tap dancing class this week...



It wasn't a recital (that happens in spring), but it was a chance for us parents to watch one of their rehearsals. They normally ask the parents to wait outside during rehearsals because having us in the room apparently is too disruptive.

Me, disruptive?

Anyway, here she is little Miss Nalani - in the center of the front row, naturally...



From basketbal to ballet...



Just another week in the Bicoy household.

Winter has arrived...

Last night marked the first snowfall of the season and boy, it was a doozy!

14 inches of very heavy, wet snow fell over night. It's made a mess everywhere.

But it's great fun for Nalani as you can see in this video...



David and Kekoa started work on a snow fort which will continue to grow throughout winter...



Winter has arrived in Door County.

(Sorry about the poor video quality but these were taken with my Blackberry)

Presents and a FLAGRANT FOUL!

For years my lovely wife Cari has been one of those insane people who gets up at 2 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving to stand in line when the stores open at 4 a.m.

This year, my wife was NOT one of those people who got up at 2 a.m.

Instead, she just didn't go to bed. Toys R Us opened at midnight for the very first time this year. And on she went shopping until morning. Oh joy, oh rapture.

By the time Cari got home around noon, she was done with probably 85% of the Christmas shopping. And since she does most of the shopping, I'm stuck with the wrapping.

In practical terms, this means the weekend after Thanksgiving always translates into one incredible marathon wrapping session for me (and as I come upon middle age, a very sore back).

After several hours of wrapping, the kids are allowed to come up from their banishment to the basement and see the huge pile of presents. It's their job to pick up the pile and place the gifts nearly under the Christmas tree.

Nalani grabbed hers by the armful...



And Malia could barely lift the biggest present for her...



Ultimately, everything was squeezed under and around the tree...



Now they just have to live with four weeks of torment of staring at all these gifts without being able to open any of them until Christmas morning! That's my form of payback torture after being stuck with the bill for all this junk.

On a completely different subject, our little athlete Bret Jr. had his very first basketball game on Thursday as his Sturgeon Bay Clippers took on the St. John Bosco Bobcats...



If I had to compare Bret to an NBA player, it would have to be Charles Barkley.

He's not the tallest kid, nor is he the best ball handler. But he uses his body well and muscles through the other 5th graders...



Plus, he's got a mouth just like Charles Barkley's.

Bret's best sport is football and he's definitely a defensive tackle. And he plays basketball that way!

But tonight they were taking it to him. Here's a flagrant foul as one of the Bobcats literally elbows Bretty across the face as he's making a move with the ball...



But after a month of practice, Bret loved the first game of the season...



Go Clippers!

My son David, the aspiring You Tube video star...



Here's a video with his head in the clouds...



And, well, this video is just a bit strange...



We're such proud parents.

Dexter and Scooby Doo Go Tree Hunting

Every year our family sets out to cut down our very own fresh tree for Christmas. And I've commented often before on the great irony of it all.

We search for hours for the most beautiful, perfect tree that symbolizes all that is Christmas. Then we chop it down and kill it.

So you've heard that story before.

But what's a bit disturbing is how excited some of our kids are getting over the chopping down part.

If you've ever watched the Showtime series Dexter, you'll recall the demented glee that Dexter (the lovable serial killer) gets when he sets out the killing tools of his trade (knives, saws, etc.).

Somehow that's exactly what came to mind when Kekoa and I were getting out our tools for today...



Kekoa just seems to get really excited about the chopping part.

Well, I suppose if we cut down trees every year for our family's enjoyment, that makes us serial tree killers.

But Alyssa and David are hot on the case.

Doesn't this just look like a movie poster picture for a new Scooby Doo live action picture...



Scooby Doo and the Case of the Serial Tree Chopper. Watch for it next summer in a theatre near you!

This wasn't the greatest tree farm - they had lots of fields of balsam fir trees, but we prefer spruce because their stronger branches support our heavier ornaments. Unfortunately, their fields of spruce trees were largely cleared during last Christmas. Lots of stumps abound...



I suppose what humans call "last Christmas" the trees refer to as the "Great Spruce Massacre of 2008."

In any case our son David enjoyed himself.

He enjoyed himself so much that he just had to dance as you can see in this video from today...



You're on your own with that one. I don't think any further comment from me is necessary.

Ultimately, we did find a great blue spruce tree...



Because it was so warm today (mid 40s), it was a royal pain trying to get the tree back to the van. Although I cannot believe I'm about to write this, a good snow fall would really have helped.

Instead of lying in some nice clean snow to chop the base of the tree, I had to crawl in the mud.

And rather than drag the tree to the van over a bed of white snow, I had to carry it to keep it out of the mud...



Oh what Christmas joy! My back hurts.

We finally did get the tree home and we pulled out the ornaments.

Cari bought a new decoration for the tree just the other day - which was the first thing that Kekoa and Nalani hung up...



In case you can't tell, that's a Tony Romo ornament hanging just above their heads.

Everyone got in the act decorating the tree...



The above picture isn't the best one I could find, but it does have a nice view of Cari's rear end. After six kids and all these years, my wife is still adorable.

The really amazing thing about today is how much we actually accomplished.

Wandering through the woods, cutting down a tree, bringing it home, and decorating it was what we did in the middle of the day.

The day began with the kids putting up Cari's Christmas Village...



Mostly that entails taking little houses and people out of boxes and setting them up.

Here's a view from outside the house through one of the bay windows...



That was the morning before the tree hunt. After we finished decorating the tree, we had to decorate Christmas stockings...



Each year the kids create their own design for their stocking using glitter and colored glue. You wouldn't believe how many stockings we've accumulated over the years.

But that's how Christmas season begins in the Bicoy home.



Happy Holidays!

Twin Cities Adventures

While Cari and our oldest daugther Alyssa are off at a Monsters of Folk concert in downtown Minneapolis, I have some time this evening to post a few pictures of our ongoing visit to the Twin Cities.

Aren't you just drooling over the prospect of reading all this nonsense?

Earlier today we paid a visit to the Science Museum of Minnesota, complete with their collection of dinosaurs...



Cari and Malia did their own newscast live from downtown St. Paul...



While Bretty and David piloted a tugboat down the river...



The Science Museum has a huge exhibit on all the different parts of the body, including a very large hand for Nalani...



I must admit that I liked the section on nutrition and the digestive track the best.

When talking about proper nutrition and what our bodies need to thrive, they had an example of what I can only assume to be the best source of nutrients for the human body...



Pizza = Nutrients.

The Science Museum of Minnesota says so!

Hey, that's considered good nutrition when you live in a place where it's 12 degrees outside 9 months out of the year.

There was also a neat exhibit that allowed you to use an optician's tool to closely examine the eye of a friend.

Nalani got all set up to look at her little sister's eye, but apparently Malia didn't quite get the concept that it's your eye that's supposed to be put against the eyepiece...



Eye. Tongue. Malia must figure what's the difference?

Then there was our little boy David who sat there while his big sister read to him from a dinosaur book...



The kids had a grand ol' time...



But of course it still was a museum. There's nothing quite the spectacle that is the Mall of America.

We were there yesteday, and again today. At the center of this monstrosity is an Nickelodeon-themed amusement park.

And with Nick, you have to start with the guy who lives in a pineapple under the sea...



That's Spongebob Squarepants, of course!

There is also a wonderful Lego playground...



And just look at what the kids built from Lego...



Okay, maybe the kids didn't build it. But the boys knew who it was. I was convinced it was Boba Fett, but they said it was Jango Fett because Jango wore a blue uniform.

I looked it up later and they're right. Geez, my kids know more about Star Wars than me!

We were back at the Mall of America today. But this time as the women in the family went shopping, we men decided to begin a noble quest.

A magical quest, to be specific.

MagiQuest is an interactive game in which you use a magic wand to explore a magical kingdom, find enchanted stones, and use them to become powerful enough to destroy the dragon.

Here are the boy's using their wands on a suit of armor...



You flick your wand, and the suit of armor talks to you.

Or you flick the wand at a chest...



And it opens to show you treasure or an item for which you are searching.

We spent way too much time running around that place!

Here's the great wizard talking to us when becoming a "Master Magi..."



It's basically a Harry Potter-like experience, without the creator having to pay Harry Potter royalties.

As noted at the start of this post, later this evening Cari and Alyssa heading off to their concert. Thus I was left to feed our five younger kids. And though our Marriott hotel rooms came with fully-equipped kitchens, there was no way I was going to cook anything.

It was off to Chili's to dinner!



In the picture below, if you look closely behind Malia's head in the dark background, you'll see the shadow of a man eating...



This older gentleman and his wife (not pictured) kept looking over at the kids during the entire meal.

Generally, that sort of staring freaks me out, but at least this couple was smiling. Then again, maybe that's even freakier.

Anyway, after the couple finished their dinner they came over to our table and asked me if all these kids were mine.

At first I thought of denying it, but I figured my kids already have reason enough for therapy when the grow up so I admitted to fathering them all.

The older woman then complimented me on having such wonderfully polite and well-behaved children.

I thanked her and said that keeping the kids locked up in the garage most of the time can work wonders.

It's a true story, but I told Cari about later and she doesn't think it was very funny.

However, the kids liked it. Or at least they're saying so after I bribed them with a stop for ice cream before returning to the hotel...



Well, that's another day in Minnesota.

We did discover one more place we really wanted to go. Unfortunately, it's about 90 minutes away and that's just a bit too far.

But if you're ever in Southern Minnesota, please be sure to stop at perhaps the greatest food museum of them all...



You just have to go to a museum which promotes itself by saying, "Get a taste of interactive meat."

Spam musubi. Spam on saimin. Fried spam in a Zip Pac.

I'm from Hawaii. We all must genuflect before the almighty Spam.