This Christmas season was a little bittersweet for me. It was our first Christmas that we weren't traveling and the first Christmas we weren't spending with family. It was nice to not have to stress about catching flights and such, but I also felt a little lonely and worried how Christmas would turn out with it all on me. Luckily in the end it turned out just fine.
On Christmas Eve Santa flew in to the Princeton airport. It was such a great idea, I couldn't pass it up.
Waiting on the runway. He flew in and did two low loops in front of us.
And there he is!
He came with toys for all the girls and boys
That did mean we had to do quite a bit of waiting. Luckily they had free hot chocolate and cookies
and a chance to check out the plane (Rachel didn't make it...she was too nervous about missing her name being called)
Whoa! Who's driving this thing?
Worth the wait! (Although if we do it again I'll be sure to not drop the presents off on the last day :)
On the night of Christmas Eve we went to a party at a friend's house and I was really impressed. They had crafts for the kids and for the moms. We had great dinner and they even had a nativity puppet show program that the kids were able to participate in. Then there was a fun gift game and way too much dessert. We had such a great time! The other thing that made Christmas Eve magical was that it started to snow as we were headed to the party. It was not in the forecast and completely unexpected. There was a good trace on the ground as we went home that night. Unfortunately it did not stick through the night with all the rain, but still my kids were so giddy about it. It was really special.
Christmas morning. I think they woke up about 7:15. Hallelujah! Rachel's ready for some fast present opening.
I am surprised by how much she loves this thing. She plays with it all the time.
Snow clothes for her doll. She wants to go skiing with her so bad. Hopefully we get a chance!
Cute a mommy!
For those who know Tommy, you know he LOVES bubble gum
Tommy asked Santa for this pirate ship for Christmas and he found it in my closet (I need to find better ways of hiding for next year!) I had to run and do some last minute shopping and went through some CRAZY traffic. And this ended up being from from me and Jake.
I love Christmas morning...it's messy, the kids are stuffing themselves with candy...and it's all okay!
We decided we ought to take the opportunity (in case there isn't one in the future) to witness the reenactment of George Washington crossing the Deleware River on Christmas day. It's true the kids weren't thrilled about it but they were troopers (at least in the beginning). Rachel even got to test out one of her favorite presents, her binoculars.
When we got there we were told they weren't going to cross because of the tide. But then they started getting in boats, but then they never crossed. It was a little confusing and what was supposed to take 10 minutes, took probably an hour. Well, we can now check it off the list right?
At least Kate was in a GREAT mood!
This is one of Kate's presents that entertains her really well.
Rachel's giant gummy bear. She hoped it would be as big as the house, but she was glad it wasn't that big when she realized she couldn't finish this one.
Our teacher this year doesn't have many private students and doesn't do recitals like our last teacher did. So I threw out the idea of having this small informal recital and it all came together really nicely. We know a couple of the girls from church and it was at their house, and then it was Rachel and our neighbor.
It was a fun Christmas season with Rachel at the piano. She has made a lot of progress this year and she really enjoys it.
It's just down the street from us (maybe 20 minutes), but it took a $10 Groupon to
get us there. My kids have been begging me to go but even with the $20
off coupons in the summer, it's still pretty pricey.
Their favorite ride
Dinky train
Kate was entranced with the show. She is at a perfect age for it. She loves all the Sesame Street characters right now.
How often do you get to go to an amusement park in the winter? We thought it was pretty cool, and not really cold. We lucked out with a pretty nice day.
I think more candy ended up in the boys' mouths than on their house
Rachie is pretty creative
Everyone made fun of my igloo, but I was quite proud
We started the Elf on the Shelf this year and we had such a blast with it
Rachel missed her first day of school this year for a little day trip to the city. Hurray for the Mormon ad in Times Square!!
Macy's windows
I have a few pictures of Santaland, but I just wanted to show you how amazing it is. The first time we came right when it opened and zipped through it all. This time there was a line, which helped to slow down and take it all in.
These two have such a cute relationship
Did you know that Tommy is a goofball?
Did you know that Macy's was the first to have an in-store Santa at Christmas time?
Toys R Us
My mom treated our whole family to see the Rockettes. It was Tommy and Kate's (and my mom's) first time seeing it. They all loved it!
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without doing sugar cookies with my mom.
