teammate was a "silly pass"). Holiday activities (besides the obvious cooking and eating of the enormous meal, and at Christmas, the opening of presents) don't have to be traditions set in stone to be repeated, year after year, until they are approached with something akin to dread; in fact, the demise of our street-hockey tradition owed in part to the increasing reluctance of the older participants to drag themselves off the sofa. But I still have fond memories of it, and I know my sons, nephews and niece enjoyed it while it lasted. Over the years I've always enjoyed an outdoor activity on the morning of a holiday family gathering -- a walk at Five Rivers, touch football in Washington Park, etc. -- and these are especially good for spending quality time with children before they head back inside for reruns of The Office and playing with the Wii. Lately, my kids have come to look forward to another tradition we began a few years ago: seeing a movie together at the Spectrum on Christmas Day before we head back home to prepare and eat the feast. Once every few years, my sister-in-law's family comes from Oregon to spend Thanksgiving with us, which is extra-special for us and the kids because they usually stay in the house a couple of nights. Besides being able to, um, open an extra bottle of wine or two because no one is going anywhere, it also gives us time for an after-dinner game of