Christmas!

Well, obviously the highlight of our week was Christmas, but we did several fun activities leading up to it.

Tuesday we went to Chick-Fil-A and Starry Nights with some other families from church.  Evie loved sitting in the front seat during our slow drive through the light display, riding the pony (she remembered last year she had named one Strawberry Pie and said she wanted to ride him again), and the petting zoo.  They had so many neat animals there!  Porcupines, zebras, lemurs, deer, llamas, camels, pigs, rabbits.  Evie loved the little black pigs and wanted to buy one (they were for sale, as it turns out, but I think a pug is close enough to a pig).

Eating ice cream with friends at Chick-Fil-A

Riding "Strawberry Pie"

Evie and the baby llama were the same height.

Wednesday, we stayed at home and Evie rediscovered several of her toys and entertained herself playing most of the day.  Thursday we made Christmas cookies.  Evie enjoyed mixing the batter and deciding which cookie cutters to use.

Thursday night, we went to see Peter Pan at Playhouse on the Square.  Last year, she saw that they brought a kid up out of the audience and she told me back in October when I told her I was going to buy our tickets that she wanted to be the kid who got to go onstage.  I told her I would try to get tickets for us in that aisle, but that I couldn't promise they would pick her.  I was delighted when she was picked to go up there.  Smee came and took her up and called her Pirate Evie and showed her how to make a hook to scare off the crocodile.  She had Evie say, "Arrrrr" a couple of times and then enlisted the audience's help to get the crocodile to go away.  Evie was so proud of herself and didn't seem nervous at all.

At curtain call the actor who played a pirate and Nana (the dog) came out to bow with the pirates, and then he held up the dog head to demonstrate that he also played Nana.  Evie leaned over to me and said, "Did that pirate kill Nana?!"  I had to get my laughter under control to explain to her what was happening.

Sitting with Daddy at Peter Pan

After the play, we went to Schweinehaus, a German restaurant not too far from the playhouse and the late hour caught up to Evie.  She laid down in my arms and after a few minutes, she asked me, "Do you want to stay this way forever and ever?"  The answer is decidedly, yes.

Friday, we went to Granna's house as soon as Evie woke up because Ryan, Addie, and Will were there.  The kids played, we decorated the tree, and they played some more.  We stayed together all day and that evening most of my mom's family came over to play games.  Evie enjoyed having Zach, Aiden, and Lydia to play with too.  The little kids decorated the cookies Evie and I had baked and since the rest of the family was playing games, I ended up letting Evie spend the night at Granna's with her cousins so I could stay longer to finish up our board games.

Looking at special ornaments together while they decorate the tree

Decorating cookies with Lydia, Addie, and Will, with Aiden supervising in the back

Addie reading them their bedtime story.

Christmas Eve I came over the morning and the kids were playing.  We had been invited to go to lunch with Ryan and Aimee (who had arrived Friday evening) and their friends, but I could tell when I got there that Evie needed a break and a nap.  So we stayed at Granna and Grannadaddy's while Ryan, Aimee, and the kids went out for lunch and Evie did, indeed, get a nap.  She chose to snuggle with the Grinch "because he's dressed like Santa" and fell asleep to an episode of Little Einsteins.

We had Christmas Eve service at 5:30 pm at our church and Evie fell asleep in Granna's arms during the service (I saw this from my perch in the choir loft).  But she woke up in time to hold her own candle for the candlelight portion of the service.

I love this picture of Granna watching over my baby.  I love their special bond.

I tried to get pictures after the service, but the kids were a little wired and this was the best I could get:

We went back to Granna's house for our "Christmas Eve feast" as I dubbed it when I was growing up, and then said our good nights so we could come home, do the first night of Hanukkah, and get ready for bed.  Evie's Hanukkah gift was a clip-on LED light to go on her bed so that, hopefully, she won't be up climbing on furniture to try to turn on the overhead light when she gets unnerved at night.

My aunt Kathy came over to stay with Evie while Seth and I joined my dad and brother for the late Christmas Eve service at the Episcopal Cathedral.  I love that Kathy is willing to do that for us.  When we got home, Seth and I put out the things from Santa (just stockings and the dinosaurs Evie had asked for from Santa) and went to bed.  I'm glad we went kinda light on this Christmas because it was less overwhelming on all accounts.

Christmas morning, Evie came out and saw that Santa had come (she was very excited about Santa this year, asking a lot of questions about how he gets into the house when we don't have a chimney and other logistics), and opened her other presents from us and out-of-town family and friends.  Then we got ready for church and headed to Granna's to see if the other kids were up.  We went to church for Sunday School and worship and then back to Granna's where we did presents from Granna and Grannadaddy to the grandchildren and from Ryan's family to mine and vice versa.  They enjoyed opening everything and playing, especially Will's new swords and Evie's game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.

We went to my mom's side of the family, gathering at my uncle Tim's house, and Evie joined the throng of mostly girl great-grandchildren: Addie, Evie, Nyla, Naomi, and Natalie, plus Will, and Lydia who is of my generation, but only 2 years older than Evie.  Those 7 kids had a blast with each other and they sat still long enough for us to get a picture.

Today, we had dinner with my dad's side of the family at my parents' house, with more presents and food!  Ryan and Aimee flew back this evening and Addie and Will are staying a few more days so we'll have more time to play with them.  It was a wonderful Christmas - always more magical with a child to share it with, and even more so when that child is Evie.