Holiday Rush!

We had a busy, busy holiday season.  We returned from Michigan with a full calendar and lots of shopping and decorating to do.  The first weekend back, we headed into Old Town Alexandria where we watched the annual Scottish Walk parade and bought our Christmas tree at the St. Mary’s School fundraiser.  The gentleman helping us couldn’t believe we wanted to purchase the first tree we saw, but when you have two small children and it’s approaching lunchtime, you have to be decisive.  We spent most of the week busily decorating our tree and front lawn.  We stepped up our outdoor decorations just a notch this year with real pine garland and red ribbons around the front door.

Next weekend we headed to Williamsburg, Virginia to experience Christmastown at Busch Gardens.  For a few weeks each winter, the park opens up for a seasonal celebration.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate this weekend.  We spent a lovely morning in Colonial Williamsburg, looking at the traditional decorations and browsing through the Christmas market. However, in the afternoon a steady rain began to fall and continued throughout the night.  We had told the kids we were going to have dinner with Santa, so (despite our better judgment) we bundled up tightly, bought some ponchos and hoped against hope that the rain would stop.  It didn’t, but we did manage to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus.  We decided to skip the rest of Christmastown and try again next year.

Back home, we frantically continued shopping, mailing Christmas cards and preparing to host a holiday party for some friends from daycare.   On Saturday morning, we took in Elmo’s Healthy Heroes (Seasame Street Live) at the Patriot Center.  Later that evening, six three-year-olds and their parents and siblings gathered at our house to eat, drink and be merry.  Elise pulled out Aunt Pauline’s recipe book and made Tom and Jerry’s (eggnog fortified with brandy) for our adult guests.  After a brief and very messy cookie decorating exercise, we sent the kids downstairs to play in the basement and enjoyed a little adult conversation with our friends. 

Finally it was the week before Christmas and we still had more shopping to do!  We attended to the last few items on our list and got ready for Bryant’s parents, who arrived a few days before Christmas with a truck full of presents and food.