Christmas in Orlando

We went to Orlando yesterday to celebrate Christmas with Grandma, Cindy, Shawn, Foxy and Pepper.  We first stopped by a surprise baby shower for Cindy and Shawn (I think that cat is out of the bag to everyone now--we are soooo excited to be getting a new niece/cousin!!), and then went to Grandma's apartment for dinner and presents.

Anna and Will playing with Foxy:

Pepper was there, too, but the kids left her alone!

Both kids played elf this year:

Helping Foxy with a present:

The princess boots were a huge hit with Anna last year...and now she has a new pair of boots to enjoy this year:

And her first Barbie doll:

I thought we'd get a lot of requests for a puppy after this, but the kids just said they were sad the dogs had to go back to California.  Whew!  I think we'll stick with hermit crabs for now.

That wrapped up all the gift exchanges, but I am totally keeping the tree up until Epiphany this year, so we are still in Christmas mode.  Anybody have suggestions for celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas? :-)

Christmas Day 2013

 Santa came!

 John and I woke up first.  John was showered and ready for work by the time Anna woke up at 6:30.  Anna came into the family room, saw her Princess Elsa dress, grabbed it and ran into Will's room yelling, "Get up, Will!  It's important.  I got a princess dress!"

Will wasn't impressed with the dress, but he was thrilled to see his hermit crabs and other gifts:

Underwear!  So silly:

Will enjoyed Henry Huggins and Ramona, so I'm hoping he'll like Ralph, too:

Will picked out a stuffed dolphin for Anna:

Anna and Flipper, Will and Three-Tip:

He also got her a Princess Anna doll:

She was sooo happy.  Lots of hugging....

...that turned into wrestling, as hugs around here tend to do:

Will opened his gift from Anna, a Legos Contraptions kit:

Then Anna gave Daddy his gift, specially chosen by her:

She and John share an affinity for dried mango.

Anna offered to go ahead and taste test it for him:

We had a nice lazy day.  John went into work for a few hours, then came home and I went to the hospital for rounds.  Then we had brunch with baked grits and bacon and my variation on Santa's punch.  In the afternoon, John and Anna played with her new Hello Kitty bat and ball:

And everyone except Will went for afternoon runs:

I still cooked a big dinner....because I love to!  Ham, dressing, cranberry sauce, and sauteed brussels sprouts, yum!

Hope your Christmas was equally wonderful, and that your stocking was not filled with too many of these:

Merry Christmas!