The week after Thanksgiving, we got all up in the spirit and pulled down the 2,329 boxes that line the walls of our garage. We are "Christmas People," but I think I've told you that before. We have tons of decor, ornaments, lights, nativity scenes, garland, multiple stocking options with multiple stocking holders, wreaths, villages (which we currently have nowhere to put, and that is Nathan's major concern with our next home... it had better have a Christmas village location!). So, add to all that chaos two really curious toddlers and wahoo! CRAY CRAY CRAZY up in here.
We let them decorate the tree, which they took extremely seriously. Needless to say, it's really bottom heavy for the most part.
We sipped hot apple cider, listened to a little Frank Sinatra, and turned Connor into the Christmas Joker. He loved it.
This one cracks me up. Each face (furry one included) is saying "are ya DONE already?"
After the house was situated, we had nothing to do but visit every fun Christmas activity around Columbia. As much as we sing Greenville's praises, I've gotta give it up to the midlands for their seasonal spirit! One of the closest malls to us has a super cute bear orchestra, so we've been going there several times a week to watch their show. Tyler and Caroline get so excited when we see them and yell "hey bears!" the minute we walk up to them.
Holiday parties have also been on the calendar, and no matter how many times the kids are faced with Santa, they are still totally freaked out by him in person. They LOVE him all day long, constantly talking about him and wanting to go see him. But when we do, all bets are off. At the hospital's residents auxiliary party, though, I can't say I blame them... this guy was probably the worst Santa impostor EVER. They were horrified - hehe!
"Sweet Seasons" was another fun event in town, and we really enjoyed bundling up on a wintry night to see the carolers and tree lighting ceremony. Considering it's still in the 60's and 70's in December here, getting our hats and scarves on for once made it feel like Christmas. And as much as the previous Santa stunk, the Sweet Seasons Santa was money. He offered up candy canes, hugs, tugs on the beard, anything he could think of to get Tyler and Caroline on his lap. No dice... so we worked it out like this...
And here's our "tree pic" of the year. Not sure it beats the State House, but at least we changed things up!
Caroline was loving her freedom and Tyler was loving Nathan's toboggan.
Another thing we've found to do is "Holiday Lights on the River" at Saluda Shoals State Park. The only picture I have is the one below, because you stay in the car the whole time and drive through the two-mile show. We've done this kind of thing in other cities, but I'm not sure they're quite as *dazzling* as Saluda Shoals. (Just ask Paw Sims... he was the biggest kid of all during our ride!) The highlight of our night had to be Tyler's excitement over the whole scene, and his constant "OH WOW!!" every time we'd point out a new animation. He has definitely inherited his mom and dad's (more emphasis on dad's) enthusiasm for the holidays, since this child begs to see "more lights!" every time we leave the house. Have I mentioned how precious my kids are in this post yet? No? Between the rush down the stairs every morning to find "Elfie" and the fixation on all things Frosty, twinkling lights, and reindeer, I can seriously barely stand how sweet they are. Everyone tells you that the more they grow, the more awesome they get... and it's so true. They can honestly turn my day completely around just by their innocent excitement over the smallest things.
And finally, the past weekend was spent back home in North Carolina watching my little cousin tie the knot! The wedding was at the Lake Lure Inn, backdrop of the famed Dirty Dancing that still to this day sings to my heart! The ladies of the bridal party shared "Johnny's Cabin" as a dressing room, and every detail from the candlelit ceremony to the beautiful reception was just perfect. What wasn't perfect, unfortunately, was the stomach bugs that overtook my children that evening... so we were forced to duck out a little early and head home. I hate we missed so much of the fun, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do (especially when dad's pulling all-nighters at the hospital all weekend).
The next day, everyone seemed to feel a little better so we decided to keep the celebrations going, but this time for Lauren and Landon's 3rd birthday. I made them giant Mickey and Minnie cupcakes, so we carefully drove to Chuck E. Cheese and had a blast! Tyler and Caroline weren't so sure about the characters at first, but a few rides in they were good to go.
In summary, I deeply regret that it's been 17 days since my last post. I've paid for that darn Shutterfly coupon in more ways than one... like tonight, while sitting on the computer for four hours (!!!) trying to go through everything blog-worthy. I still have a few things left, but it's 1:00 a.m. and I just can't hang any longer. Thanks to everyone who still visits Twice Blessed... you are certainly troopers!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
