Holiday Fun (Photos Galore)

Like just about everyone, we LOVE the time between Thanksgiving and New Years. This year, we had every weekend accounted for with some great activities.  The first weekend, we took our annual Norfolk trip.  This year, we went down for Thomas' drill weekend.  Unfortunately, that meant he had to work during the day.  But, there just wasn't enough time to make the trip twice in December.

We left after shortly after the kids got out of school on Friday and arrived around 8pm. Thomas checked us into our lodging and we headed to the apartment.  When we got there it appeared as though the apartment was already occupied.  Thomas went in and saw that they had given us a single room in a shared apartment.  Can you imagine that with the 6 of us? Fortunately, it was just a mix-up, and we were back in our $76/night home about 30 (stressful) minutes later.  We had a nice 4-bedroom apartment.  It was exactly like the one we stayed in last time, so everyone ran up to "their" rooms.  We had to adjust a bit because of Luke, so Anna and Jack happily decided to bunk together. Kara was thrilled that her room had a chair and a laundry basket. She decided that meant her room was like a hotel room in and of itself and was thrilled with the arrangement. She insisted on using the laundry basket and invited everyone to throw away their trash in her trash basket.  Ahhh, the little things!  It was very sweet.  The weather greatly interfered with our plans, on Monday morning we went out to breakfast, took Thomas to work and headed to the Children's Museum in Portsmouth instead of the zoo.  We were going to just go for the morning and meet Thomas for lunch, but the kids were having too much fun.  We ended up staying until Thomas was done for the day.  That meant no naps for Luke, but he is always so happy to be out and about that he was fine.

Anna surrounding herself with a giant bubble in the bubble room

Kara loved pretending to drive the bus

"Fishing" was Jack's favorite activity.

Hanging out in the music room

Luke helped to check Jack out in the grocery store

Jack playing on the stage while Anna and Kara manned the lighting

The massive train room

Luke loved playing with the train tables

Faces of Jack.  I loved this thing.  I want one for our playroom.

Kara and Anna in full profile

We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and then did the Botanical Gardens drive through lights.  As always, it was completely amazing!  We read that they have been nominated as one of the 10 best in the country.  There were a few new elements and even with the drizzle, it was still great and everyone loved it.

Sunday was another rainy day, which left me with few options.  I thought about taking them to a movie, but wasn't sure how Luke would hold up.  So, we did something I swore we would never do. Chuck-E-Cheese.  I told the kids I had a surprise for them and as I was driving looking for it, the girls noticed it and Jack said, "Mom, isn't taking us there.  She would NEVER take us to Chuck-E-Cheese!" It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but my threshold was really, REALLY, low.  We still have a bunch of tokens left, so I am even willing to try the one out near us.

Luke and Chuck

Thomas got off a bit early and we headed home.  It wasn't nearly the trip we've had in previous years, where we have gone to Christmas Towne at Busch Gardens or other Williamsburg activities, but it is always nice to go and show the kids where they were born and we do love the Botanical Gardens.  

The next weekend, Thomas and I had a date night on Friday.  We went out to dinner (Texas Roadhouse) and then went to Sotterley for Christmas by Candle Light.  They have people act out what was happening on the plantation in years past.  It was a nice evening away.

Saturday, we were back at Sotterley for their family event.  We did a tractor ride down to the river, saw the animals in the petting zoo, walked around for a while and did several crafts.  It was a lot of fun.  Saturday night was the Darrow's annual Christmas party.  Alecia and Josh always do an awesome job. We built gingerbread houses, ate delicious food, played a Christmas themed game of Family Feud and another game where we had to sing and then did the white elephant gift exchange. We brought some candles that Thomas was really reluctant to give-up.  He wanted them back, but despite our best efforts, they kept getting stolen away.  We ended up with an iTunes gift card and some toffee.  A fun time was definitely had by all.

Making a bird feeder at Sotterley

Sunday (we are up to December 14th!) we went to Cookies with the Clauses in Solomons.  It was fantastic!  We decorated gingerbread cookies (they were from a local bakery and were delicious), made crafts and then Mrs. Claus read us a story.  After that, Santa called up each child by name and gave them a small gift.  It cost $8/person and I felt like they must have spent more than they made. .  Mr. and Mrs. Claus were very personable.  When a kid asked for electronics, they talked about a waiver parents have to sign and how kids have to be in the top 5% to even qualify.  They were just really funny and clever.  The kids and the parents were all very entertained.  Luke even made a friend!  There was another baby there that was just 2 weeks younger than Luke.  They kept grabbing each other and laughing.  We all had such a good time!  The place was beautifully decorated and they even had fake snow blowing as you walked in.  Really, I just can't say enough good about it.

Decorating

Kara's finished product

Luke and friend

Luke's first visit with Santa

Four cute kids

This week in school has been full of fun for the kids.  The first grade had cookie decorating parties on Wednesday.  I went in to help Jack's class.  Because of his food allergies, I like to be in his room when there is food around.  Thursday was Kara's Kindergarten sing along. Her class sang "Must be Santa" and "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer."  She did a wonderful job and loved getting dressed up.  I even let her wear my Christmas lights earrings and necklace.  Today is pajama day for all their classes. They get to watch the Polar Express and eat popcorn.  Everyone was eager to go to school all week long.  Earlier in the week we made treat bags and some gifts for their teacher, 17 gifts, of varying size, in total. They really enjoyed playing Santa and handing things out to their favorite school personnel.  

Pajama Day!

This weekend we are going to go to Mount Vernon for their evening family event and we are hoping to go to the Christmas Village, a new activity at the county fairgrounds.  Every night we do our Christmas countdowns, Advent Calendars, and the Naughty or Nice ornament (which almost always unfairly tells Kara she has been naughty, at which point she almost always gets very upset).