Christmas is now over and while this makes me a little sad, I am happy that we had a wonderful time celebrating as a family each day. Here is a recap of what we did the second half of the month.
December 13: Deliver Christmas Cookies to Neighbors - Life was a little hectic as I rushed to bake a bunch of cookies in time for this but it was all worth it. Our neighbors seemed very touched by our visit and the gift of cookies and we even had a couple of families follow our example later in the month and deliver their own cookies on the street.
December 14: Quiet Time at Home - I came down with the flu that morning so our plans for an special activity were canceled. Instead we had a quiet evening at home with the kids and rested.
December 15: ZooLights - We headed to the National Zoo to attend ZooLights for the first time. We got there just in time and snagged one of the last parking spots. This event was a lot of fun and we will definitely do it again next year. The kids had fun looking at the animal light displays, riding a train, and looking at toy trains.
December 16: The 3 Wise Men Game - We hid our Little People Baby Jesus in spots around the house and then pretended we were the 3 wise men looking for him in the dark. We used flashlights to search and the hider would sing a Christmas carol, singing louder when closer and singing softer when farther away from Jesus. Kira had a blast with this game but Logan was grumpy and not into it as much.
December 17: Christmas Puppet Show - This was a free puppet show in Fairfax City. Kira enjoyed the show but it wasn't entertaining enough to keep Logan's interest which means I didn't get to pay attention.
December 18: Dinner with Santa at Red, Hot & Blue - Aunt Liane was visiting so we all went out to dinner at Red, Hot & Blue to see Santa and enjoy free kids' meals. Kira was chatty with Santa, Logan was more interested in his food than Santa, and Emma was scared of Santa.
December 19: Peppermint Milkshakes and Put Money in Salvation Army Pot - We went to Fair Oaks Mall to get Kira's hair cut and while we were there both kids put money in the Salvation Army Pot. Then we met Rachel and Caden for lunch and enjoyed peppermint milkshakes. It was a hectic lunch environment, but everyone took good naps before our guests from MA arrived.
December 20: Preschool Christmas Party and Christmas Chapel - Both Grandmas, Logan, and I met Kira at school to attend her Christmas Chapel service where they had people act out the nativity scene. Then we went to a party in Kira's classroom and enjoyed snacks and desserts. Logan got to sit at the table with the big preschoolers and was so well behaved.
December 21: Evening at National Harbor - We filled up the car with our family in addition to Jeff's parents and brother and headed to Noodles and Co. for dinner and then on to National Harbor for the evening. It was cold, but we enjoyed the light show inside the atrium of the Gaylord Hotel, a train ride for the kids, and then fireworks outside by the marina.
December 22: Botanic Gardens - To celebrate Logan's birthday we went with all of the grandparents to the Botanic Gardens downtown. Logan loved smelling the flowers but the highlight for him was huge train display they have, the best of all the ones we saw this month. On the way out, a policeman said hi to Logan and commented on his "I am 2" shirt. We told him it was Logan's birthday and the policeman led us outside to his truck for a special gift for the birthday boy. He gave him a beautiful picture of the Capitol and the Christmas tree at night that looked like it was going to be mailed as a gift to someone else. The policeman said that he'd rather Logan have it. We put it in a frame and will pull it out every year at Christmas.
December 23: Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt - We all squeezed into the car again and drove around town searching for things on our scavenger hunt list. I think we found everything except the Grinch and Snoopy. The highlight of the evening was watching the light show on my parents' street.
December 24: Read Stories - After a Christmas Eve service at church we went to Grandma's house and had a bbq dinner. Then we went home and got in our Christmas pj's and snuggled by the tree while reading books. The kids loved listening to The Night Before Christmas, the same copy that I read when I was little and The Christmas Story (story of Jesus' birth). Both kids were really excited to put out cookies for milk and Santa and went to bed without a peep (something that happens rarely these days).
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