The Cleveland Chronicles: Christmas in May

On our Cleveland bucket list was a trip to the house where they filmed the classic Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story."

We were so happy that our friends and fellow movie fanatics the Adduru family could join us on our adventure. Before we went to the house, we had some cheap Chinese for the complete "A Christmas Story" experience. (Fun fact, the actual Chinese restaurant from the film is in Toronto and is now a French Bistro.) While we enjoyed stepping back in time and acting out scenes from the movie, the trip was not without some stress and embarrassment. David John was in one of his stubborn moods, so we didn't get a single picture of him in which he is looking at the camera. We also had some boys fighting during the historical spiel about the house. Thankfully, the formal tour didn't last very long and no one said anything about our boys wrestling on the floor. Perhaps other patrons thought our boys were there to reenact the fight scene with the bully. We were grateful to make it out of the house without any of our children breaking any antiques not to mention "fragile" leg lamp replicas. :)

The Ricks and Adduru families (minus David John of course)

"Do you want to know what my son just said?"

Loved this detail from Ralphie's room.

Elijah is dreaming of a Red Ryder B-B Gun for Christmas.

David John listens intently to the secret message from Little Orphan Annie.

Benjamin helps decode the message with the Little Orphan Annie Decoder Ring. Unfortunately, we don't have any Ovaltine.

While this soap may not actually cause blindness (from soap poisoning) our tour guide did warn us that other visitors have put the bar of soap in their mouths, so taste at your own risk. Frankly, I'm surprised none of our boys tried it.

Gabriel poses with the "major award". The gift shop adjacent to the house sells leg lamps in a variety of sizes. Gabriel really really wanted us to buy one. I bought a postcard instead.

Here is our whole family in replica hats from the movie. David John is in the picture, but refused to wear a hat that didn't cover his face. He is one scary little elf.