Drat this working for a living all to heck.

Christmas Eve, bunnyhugger's parents, brother, and her brother's partner planned to come visit us. This would give us valuable time with them, and also to let bunnyhugger's parents see the house and our trees in their full decoration; you'll recall that her parents skipped coming up to be with us when selecting a tree.

This also meant we had to get the house cleaned up to presentability, a task difficult enough to send bunnyhugger to her sixtieth night in a row of being up until 6:30 am and that had me regretting some that we'd spent those hours at the Wonderland of Lights. But, with the help of a few cheats of putting a box in the basement for the interim or stuffing stuff into a bin that was meant for some better-curated contents, we got the place where it looks decent enough.

The original idea had been to head out somewhere, ideally a neighborhood bar, to get an early dinner but everywhere was closed or demanding reservations. The bar that we'd had penciled in to visit also had a packed parking lot, bunnyhugger's family reported, so we switched to ordering delivery. Chinese, from what had been our second-favorite place, before our first-favorite place passed out of existence sometime this past year.

We also got the chance to show off our fireplace, without daring to mention the repairs we'd needed done on it. bunnyhugger hadn't been sure whether to start the fire, since it takes some time to prepare and get to where it's really good, and bunnyhugger's family was evasive in answering questions like ``would you like a fire?'' and ``if we go out to dinner, will you be going home immediately after?'' that are relevant to how much to prepare. There might have been a window to ask them early afternoon, when her father called to ask if highway construction was still blocking off the off- and on-ramps to our place; they were not, but as I pointed out, bunnyhugger's brother was driving and his phone would warn him if there were road --- oh, he's hung up. No chance to ask.

For all the stress and strain getting ready, and the dread that bunnyhugger's brother would not succeed in talking them into leaving late so we have more time to prepare, it went well. Smoothly enough, at least, and we learned too late that we don't really have enough places for six people to eat. Next time we're going to have to get some more seats for the dining table or else just have pizza.

This was also apparently the first time bunnyhugger's father had seen our new bathroom sink, or at least the first time he's noticed it, since we got it nearly a year ago. He was extremely impressed that the sink, with its rectangular basin, fit in the space the vanity had for its old elliptical sink, but the thing the hole was always rectangular. Our old elliptical sink basin had a lot of rim, filling out to a rounded-rectangle fitting. He was still amazed that I could find something that fit the measurements of our sink, apparently unaware that plumbing has been very well-standardized for very long and you can pretty near always find a selection of things that fit whatever you want to do.

After they left we had our things to bundle up and prepare to bring down to bunnyhugger's parents. This took longer than we expected, close to two hours, but we were able to have a couple hours' hanging out, talking further, and generally bonding. The only drawback is that bunnyhugger's brother and his partner stayed up talking an extra hour and a half past when they said they were going to bed, which delayed bunnyhugger's being able to get to wrapping their gifts, pushing her into a sixty-first night of staying up until 6:30 am. Since Christmas she has not been doing that.

Let's enjoy now a little more of Plopsaland. Will I finish my pictures from that before 2025 is out? No.

Chef boiling some food and/or laundry outside one of the gift shops.

And now ... a ride we had heard legend of, The Ride To Happiness. Here's the sign outside explaining its deal and note that it's not only in Dutch and French but also English, and that English gets pride of place. Also that it's got a heck of a complicated story for a spinning coaster ride. Anyway it promises an unforgettable journey that shows the Four Elements working together for an extraordinary machine and it is rather a good coaster, yes.

Entrance to the ride, and yes, it does feel like a prog rock album might be breaking out.

Some of the entrance, not quite at the queue. Notice how the mini-bricks lining the pathway trace curled paths. Must have been a real pain to install.

Here's a view of the station and some of the track. That twist on top of the hill does a good bit to help the cars spin.

A resting point within the entrance, of an overly elaborate thing that gives off clock vibes without being working. The angle is such that one of the coaster's support legs appears to be coming out the globe. I apologize for this error.

Trivia: In 1669 England's King Charles II granted Chelsea College (originally founded to train protestant priests) to the Royal Society, thinking the Society could use it as a base of operations. The Society never moved in and sold it back to Charles in 1682, which became the Royal Chelsea Hospital for old soldiers. The Royal Society invested the revenue from that into the East India Company. Source: A Gambling Man: Charles II's Restoration Game, Jenny Uglow.

Currently Reading: A Call to Arms: Mobilizing America for World War II, Maury Klein.