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Cherry Blossoms

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Justin and I had intended to take the girls to see the Cherry Blossoms during their week of Spring Break. However, a cold front that swiped the East Coast shifted the peak bloom a few weeks later. Not wanting to take the girls out of school, Saturday April 7 was the only day that we could go during the short peak window. As we approached April 7, the forecast was not looking good. There was a wide range of forecasts but they all had very cold tempurates and some amounts of snow. Thankfully, the snow amounted to a few flurries at best. The temperatures though….very cold! I think the high was around 40 but with the clouds, no sight of the sun, and being close to the water, it was downright cold! We bundled up though and while we decided to forgo our picnic on the Tidal Basin, we still went.

We opted for lunch in Vienna at Pot Belly’s before we drove into the city. We parked in a garage on K Street and walked down 18th towards the mall. When we approached Pennsylvania, we decided to walk by The White House.

We then walked by The Washington Monument.

And finally we made our way to The Tidal Basin.

With the bitter cold, my goal was really to have made it there to see The Cherry Blossoms. I wasn’t trying to get “extra credit” and walk the entire path of The Tidal Basin to The Lincoln Memorial.

We let the girls take turns and take pictures of Justin and myself. It was so funny as each of them had a turn because they would mimic as Justin and I do when we take pictures. Emerson had a turn with Justin’s camera. She looked so small holding such a big camera that I couldn’t help but to smile with pure joy.

Avery had the next turn. Her little hands couldn’t find the click button so Justin attempted to go show her.  She kept snapping away hysterically as he moved closer to try to help her.

Just as Harper was about to have her turn, a spot along the water opened up and I felt like we had to quickly take advantage. I sat down and told the girls to join me. Avery and Emerson came, and Harper became upset because she thought she wasn’t going to have the opportunity to take our picture and she started crying.I got her to join us finally…her expression is hilarious!

Then a nice lady offered to take a family picture!

And afterwards Harper had her turn to take a picture of me and Justin.Her sisters were trying to help her out. Emerson was trying to guide Harper how to use the camera, although she already knew. Emerson thought Harper had her hand covering the camera so Emerson was saying “seriously”!  And Avery was standing next to her telling Justin and I, “look at me, look at me….I have a monkey on my head.” It was so funny!!

Finally after pictures, the girls “earned” their Cherry Blossom Dunkin Donut that we had bought right after we parked. We wanted to use a bathroom so we popped into a Dunkin Donuts and I realized having the treat would be a great way to get them to keep from whining until we got there. It worked pretty well….oh, bribery….yes, there is sometimes and time and place for it!

And a few last picture before we turned around.

We decided to see if we could explore one of the history muesuems on the way back….largely in part to warm up as well! Apparently, everyone had the same idea and the lines to get in were very long. Standing outside in the cold for any longer when we already had number fingers and toes didn’t seem like the right thing when the muesuems were closing in an hour anyway. We ended up walking more and then sought some warmth (as well as a bathroom break) in Nordstrom’s Rack before heading back to the car. On the way home, we stopped at Mad Fox Brewing in Falls Church. We got there a few mintutes before 6:00 and didn’t have to wait. It was pretty good….would definitely try it again in the future…especially if in the mood to sample a few different beers! The night ended with some grocery shopping at Whole Foods, which I was able to convince Justin to do, by allowing him to order a beer at the bar, while I shopped! It was a cold but fun day and I’m glad that we were able to experience the Cherry Blossoms this year, even if it felt like winter.

 

Easter 2018

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The girls woke early and nicely played in their rooms until a few minutes after 8:00 when Justin and I were finally ready to get out of bed. The Easter Bunny didn’t disappoint! I love the girls excitement as they rush to see what the Easter Bunny brought them!

Easter fell on April Fools Day this year….the Easter Bunny must have played a trick on these girls because the girls had carrots in one of their Easter Eggs!

These happy girls played outside with their jump ropes, bubbles, and climbed trees before breakfast.

We went to the 11:00 church service.

So grown up!  And look at that bow!  My Eme:)

After lunch, we took more some more obligatory Easter pictures.

Justin tried to recreate a picture from last year with the girls. It worked very well and now he wants to do this same picture annually.

Staged pictures were followed by the traditional Easter egg hunt in our backyard. And they are off! This year the girls had designated color eggs with some extras that were a free for all.  Avery was green/yellows; Emerson was blues; and Harper was pinks/purples.

At one point, Emerson had found all three of the large special eggs that she thought were free for all.  They weren’t but before we realized she had taken ownership of them, Harper thought she hadn’t found any of those particular special eggs. 

After the hunt was over, the girls enjoyed the contents of 10 of their eggs!

Later on in the afternoon we rode bikes and Avery and Emerson took turns using their roller skates for the first time.

Oh yeah, and I did make Avery and Emerson practice some sight words too…even on Easter.

Happy Easter!!

Spring Break 2018

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While we didn’t travel anywhere during spring break (as has been the case to date for all other spring breaks), we still wanted the girls to experience some non-routine events.

Sunday: We took a ride towards Frederick, Maryland. Our first stop was to a small town Walkersville, where we took a scenic train ride on Walkersville Southern Railroad through town.

We had a special guest appearance by the Easter Bunny. The train ride was only somewhat scenic and definitely overpriced, but the girls enjoyed it and loved the Easter Bunny. In fact, this is as close to the Easter Bunny that our girls have ever been; it was pretty cool to see their excitement, even Emerson was excited!

After the train ride, we drove to downtown Frederick where we ate a yummy lunch at JoJo’s Restaurant and Tap House followed by a little shopping!

The town was cute and the employees of the stores were incredibly nice. It was a cold day but we had fun…and despite the cold we still ate ice cream outside from the Pop Shop!

Monday: Monday was routine mixed with some non-routine. Jana had all three girls for the entire day. The day started with homework in the morning followed by a picnic lunch at Meadownlane, where the girls played for awhile afterwards.   Jana treated the girls to a donut from Safeway after the park.

Tuesday: Jana took the girls to see Sherlock Gnomes at Reston Town Center. Tuesdays at that theatre is “Super Tuesday” so movie tickets all day long are $7. There is a service charge too so in actuality the ticket price is closer to $8 a ticket, but still much cheaper than a normal ticket price! After the movie, the girls went to lunch at Ted’s Bulletin. They had a fun day!

Wednesday: My parents had given the girls a coupon to the Baltimore Aquarium for Christmas. Wednesday they cashed in on that prize! My parents picked them up at 9:15 in the morning and they spent the day at the Aquarium followed by dinner at Tequila Grande and shaved ice and custard at Rita’s. The girl’s favorite part of the aquarium was the dolphin show.

Thursday: We had intended to see The Cherry Blossoms; however, some really cold weather the last few weeks delayed the peek blossom date several weeks. The delay of the bloomed trees, coupled with the ground being so wet from the rain Wednesday, we didn’t think our picnic along the Tidal Basin was the right thing to do for the day. We decided it would be Mt. Vernon for the day! Emerson and Avery were ecstatic about going. They have been learning about George Washington and some of the other U.S. Presidents in school so they were thrilled to be able to make the visit.

I was pretty impressed at how captivated they were the entire visit. Harper had a full-blown temper tantrum at one point, but besides that, the girls were really well behaved. The whole ride home they sang together and Avery and Emerson even quizzed one another on the spelling of words. I told Justin I would definitely be interested in purchasing an annual membership if it was something the girls stayed interested. There was so much to do and see there!

After visiting Mt. Vernon, we decided to head back towards home…we went out for an early dinner at Cooper Hawk Winery followed by a little shopping and dessert in Reston Town Center.

Friday: The girls had a fairly normal day with Jana. They did homework in the morning followed by a trip to the library in the afternoon and Jana treated them to another donut from Safeway after the library.

In the evening, we went to my parents to celebrate the first night of Passover. Avery and Emerson even helped with reading the four questions. It was really cool to have them be able to read. And as always, they love to find the matzoh….one for each girl that my dad hides in the living room. Upon finding the hidden matzoh, my dad gives each girl five dollars.

Saturday: We met Mila and here parents, who were visiting from Brazil, at Matchbox in Mosiac District for a late lunch. The only other time we met Mila’s parents in person was in December 2015, almost two and a half years ago! Monday is also Mila’s birthday (her 29th) so we celebrated early with her and her parents. The girls always LOVE visiting with Mila. It was a fun and gorgeous afternoon!

Saturday evening we dyed Easter Eggs. It was my first time ever making them….I bought brown eggs! NOT the best for dying…haha. To be fair, the stock in Target was low and I just grabbed what was left…thinking more about the fact that I didn’t need cage free and organic for egg dying but that they would suffice. It was still fun and now I feel a little smarter about the process for next year!

Sunday: EASTER! Since there are so many great pictures of our Easter, Easter is getting it’s own blog entry!

All in all, it was a really great spring break!

Emerson Loses a Tooth

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One HAPPY girl!

My Emerson finally lost a tooth!  Avery has already lost five and I’m pretty sure Emerson is the last kid in her class to lose a tooth.  While we kept telling her that all kids lose teeth at different rates, I think she was feeling left out.  So imagine her excitement last night when her tooth became loose to the point of realistically losing it in the near future.  She couldn’t keep her hands from wiggling it.  She was determined to pull that thing out!  Her wishes came true and by the end of the school day today just after she finished talking to Mrs. Peters about her loose tooth, it fell out.  Seriously, her excitement permeated the house all evening.  It was amazing to see her so happy.

Readers: The Journey to the Destination

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We have readers in the house!

Emerson likes to read quickly. She likes chapter books and is full of expression when she reads. Emerson likes to get to her destination…doesn’t matter how she gets there….just as long as she gets to her destination as quickly as she can.

Avery likes to read while enjoying the pictures, and commenting at details along the way. She is slow; she takes the time to comprehend what she has read. For her it is about enjoying the journey. The destination is only a small portion of the overall experience.

My little readers:)

He Buys Me Flowers

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Most my blog posts are about the girls as my primary purpose for writing is so that one day the girls will have the details of their childhood told from my perspective. I want them to know how much I enjoyed the ordinary, extraordinary, and loved and adored them. I rarely write anything other than the girls and that includes the love story of Justin and Stefanie! So girls…a few of the safe (we started dating in college) funny things about your Daddy and I when we first started dating:

  • The first time I knew he truly had a crush on me was when we went to a party hosted by some of our business fraternity “brothers” where Shrek II had been playing.  Afterwards, we walked outside where I tossed a liter of soda and chowed down an entire bag of Doritos’.  Classy, I know.
  • The first time I told him “I loved him” we were at a formal on a boat; he responded by saying “thank you”.

WOW…only two things! Most everything else about our time dating in college will have to wait until you get older…lol! 17 years! That is how long it has been since your Daddy and I have been dating! On February 12, 2001, your Daddy and I shared our first kiss at my apartment! It was after a night of bowling on a weeknight to celebrate an Arthur Anderson Consulting Challenge that we had won.

Girls you constantly get to witness your Daddy in action…being a great daddy, a great husband, and a great man. He is madly deeply in love with me. He appreciates me and respects me. He works hard to do the right thing for our family…he is a moral man. He is non-judgmental and he listens. He never holds a grudge. He buys me flowers.  

Peter Rabbit

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Not the best picture, but seriously look how grown up they are!  I seriously just can’t believe how quickly the girls are growing up!  Anyway, yesterday we went to see Peter Rabbit, a rare family occurrence for a Sunday afternoon.  We recieved an AMC gift card so we went to the Tyson’s Theatre, which has stadium seating.  Avery deep belly laughed her way through the movie.  Harper smiled and lounged comfortably in her seat through the movie.  Emerson was stoic through the entire movie, but said she liked it.  I was sitting between Avery and Harper and caught myself laughing out loud too.  I don’t know if it was Avery’s deep belly laughs that were contagious (highly likely) or if it was the kid in me (only somewhat likely) or the fact that the movie was truly funny (likely) or a combination of all three (highly likely) that I truly enjoyed the movie and family outing too!

January

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January has been a cold low-key month.  Justin and I did a 21 day meal plan where we ate primarily lean meats, chicken, fish, lots of veggies, fruit, raw nuts, and some whole grains (i.e beans and quinoa).  Honestly, we ate well….I utilized fresh herbs (parsley, ginger, garlic, scallions, cilantro, chives, etc.) to really create some delicious meals. We refrained from drinking any alcohol and no sugar (except natural sugar found in fruit).  We also didn’t eat after dinner even once!  For 21 days, healthy meals and working out were really our priority.  Honestly, I didn’t think I would be able to do it, but having Justin as my accountability partner enabled by success.  We’re going to do some things more in moderation, but overall we liked the way our bodies felt and are going to continue to experiment with similar nutritional meal plans.  At the same time, it was really cold….I think for two weeks straight the temperatures hovered in the teens and twenties.  We were content staying inside.  On weekends, we have been watching movies, reading, practicing sight words, playing board games, and overall just not rushing through the day.  It’s been a nice change of pace….nothing extradorinaiy, but ordinary and great!

Charleston Trip – Dec 2017

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We spent four full days in Charleston, SC. We had a good time. I can’t say it was fabulous, but it was good. What made it not be fabulous? I don’t know that I can pinpoint it exactly as it was more a combination of things and not one thing in particular.

  • The Weather – The weather was much colder than the average temperatures for this time of year.  Most days were in the mid 40’s and cloudy with no sun in sight. While mid 40’s isn’t that cold, it felt brutally cold outside at times. I don’t know if it is because my expectations were that it was going to be warmer or if it was because the wind chill and the real feel made it feel significantly colder.  Either way, except for the last day (which was mid 50’s and sunny) it was pretty cold outside!
  • The Bickering – The girls seemed to bicker more than we liked.  While they normally butt heads, especially at home, we want to see even less of it while we are on vacation.  And while we did our best to apply our guided principles parenting techniques from the book “One More Time”, the application of the process proved to be challenging.
  • The Parking – One reserved spot came with the Airbnb rental.  The condo itself was great…newly renovated 2 bed/2 bath.  The location, price, and amenities were a perfect match for us.  The whole condo building was recently renovated so the parking spaces hadn’t been paved yet.  It was a park on a first come/first serve basis.  And while there were supposed to be enough spots for every unit, there clearly weren’t.  The first time we couldn’t find a spot, we contacted the owner and within minutes he responded back.  While we did an easy alternative with the help of the owner, the parking situation remained the same for the rest of the trip.  The morning after we parked in the alternative spot, the caps for the tires had been stolen. And the following morning, our car was blocked in by a truck doing renovation on the building next door.  So while we always ended up finding a spot, I know the parking situation was always on the back of Justin’s mind.
  • The Duration – We stayed for four full days and designated two days for driving.  While four days initially didn’t seem like a lot, we ended up having more downtime than some other vacations.  This was in part due to the cold weather (i.e. we didn’t spend as much time as anticipated at the beaches).  While the downtime was good and allowed us to not rush through everything and even allowed for the girls to watch a movie two evenings and spend some time on sigh words, it also meant more time for bickering.
  • The Food – The food!  The food was good!  I spent countless hours reviewing blogs, reviewing restaurant reviews, reviewing menus, and trying to secure reservations.  The food in Charleston is really really good and there are a lot of spectacular restaurants.  Honestly, I probably spent a minimum of 10 hours deciding where to eat!  While the food was great, it was southern.  Southern food (even the healhier options) are not that healthy….and when in the south, it is essential to do as the Southerners do!  For the most part, we only ate one meal out a day; yet, I still feel as though I ate my way through Charleston.

WHERE WE ATE

  • Hominy Grill – Hominy Grill is a hot breakfast spot.  It also happened to be a 5 minute walk from our condo.  We beat the crowds and arrived by 8:45.  I ordered the special, which was a shrimp and hominy omelet with a tomato gravy and a side of home fries. I normally don’t eat shrimp for breakfast and don’t know that I will start. With every bite, it grew on me more and more.  I definitely enjoyed it.  Justin had the country biscuit (2 eggs over easy, cheddar grits, and biscuits with gravy).  He said his was delicious too!  Avery and Harper split the pancakes and Emerson ordered an egg and bacon biscuit sandwich, eating around the biscuit.  The place was packed with people waiting when we left at 9:45. I would definitely go back here again!
  • Butcher and Bee – Butcher and Bee is rated 4.5 stars on tripadvisor.  It is moderately priced and a hot breakfast and lunch spot. We went for an early dinner!  Our dinner reservations were at 5:30.  We made it to the restaruant at 4:50.  We decided to walk there since it was less than 2 miles from our aribnb.  What we did not know, is that much of that walk was through some not so great neighborhoods. We saw an old man with blood dripping down his face who appeared to have just been beaten up.  We saw an undercover drug “bust”.  And we received a lot of looks!  So while my intentions were to take our time and explore King Street, we were definitely on the wrong side of the tracks.  Once we made it to the restaurant, we decided going inside might be wise.  We got an uber home for $10.  The food was really good….it was tapas style and Justin and I shared everything….hummus and pita, bacon wrapped dates, falafel, squash pancake, lamb kabob, mixed green salad, and a crusty baguette with seasoned olive oil for dipping.  It was all delicious.  The bacon wrapped dates and the green salad…so yummy…I could go for those again right now! They had a kids menu, but it was a little too healthy for the girls liking. The grilled chicken was not a hit.  Emerson ate some salad and pita, bread, and French fries along with Avery and Emerson.
  • Slightly North of Broad (SNOB) – Turns out I had been here before…the last time I was in Charleston for a work event with co-workers for dinner. We had a 2:30 reservation.  The place was packed and we had to wait until 2:45 before we were seated.  Justin ordered the famous shrimp and grits and I had the special, which was swordfish with kale, rice, a few potatoes, with a sunflower puree. It was delicious although I think the sunflower puree actually took away from the dish more than it added to it. And there was corn bread…I ate a lot a lot of cornbread.  They had a kids menu…Emerson ordered the grilled cheese with a side salad.  She doesn’t really like grilled cheese that is made with a lot of butter panini style so she attempted to pick out the cheese.  Avery and Harper shared a plain bowl of pasta.  When Harper devoured her half in less than two minutes and asked for more, I ordered another to the tune of $8 a bowl….for just plain pasta!
  • Kitchen & Craftsman Tap House – We stopped in here shortly after 3:00 after our horse drawn carriage ride.  The beer selection is extensive…12 pages of beer!  The food was better than average bar food but I think it fell slightly short of what it could have been.  I think they are trying to be somewhat of an upscale bar based on the menu choices and presentation.  Avery’s pizza was very good as were the potatoes that came with the burgers.  The burgers themselves were slightly overcooked and weren’t made with the best quality ground beef. The beer selection was great though.  I had a local flight plus one more local beer.  Justin had three beers.  We had fun…and this spot was exactly what we needed for that afternoon.
  • Poogan’s Porch – While this place had openings, they had no openings for a party of five. We walked by this restaurant the previous day and I noticed that this restaurant was right next to several of the restaurants that were on my restaurant “list”.  I figured we would check out the situation if we were by the restaurant since there would be other options nearby.  There were people waiting….lots of people waiting!  When I asked if there was availability for a party of five, she said the wait was already longer than when the place closed (which was about 80 minutes away).  In the same breath, she said that there was seating available at the communal table at the bar.  We jumped on it!  We got seated right away and we took up half the table!  We ordered the fried green tomatoes…I felt like we had too!  The only other time I had fried green tomatoes was at Tuscorara Mill and they were barely fried.  The ones at Poogans were delicious, but they were definitely heavily fried.  I enjoyed every bite but I likely won’t rush to order fried green tomatoes anytime soon.  Justin and I both ordered the pulled pork benedict.  I ordered homefries on the side and Justin ordered the grits.  It was very good too, but I didn’t love the barbecue pork….I think I just wanted to order outside my norm.  I probably should have ordered the salad with fried chicken.  They are known for their fried chicken and it was delicious.  One of the kids items we ordered was chicken tenders and Emerson and Harper devoured the fried chicken.  Oh yeah…and we ate more biscuits!!
  • King Street Cookies – This was a quick stop in on the last day as a way to break up the final part of our walk home.  They had every cookie under the sun at this place.  Ironically, Emerson and Harper ordered a slushee and Avery ordered ice cream.  I took one for the team and ordered a chocolate chip cookie!
  • Carmellas – We stopped at this dessert and drink bar one evening after we ate a late lunch at the bar.  Since this was technically dinner, we let the girls go all out.  They all chose gelato, while I chose a coffee and a slice a chocolate cake and Justin had gelato and a real drink. My cake was good…certainly not to die for…I probably should have saved the calories for something else!
  • Christopher Artisan Chocolatier – We stopped by here about an hour before closing on Thursday. The place was busy and the amount of fresh treats remaining were limited, but the girls still managed to find something they all liked.  I passed on dessert this time; I think if more items were still available, it would have been harder to pass up.  I did enjoy a cup of coffee though.

What other restaurants were on my list that we didn’t visit: Husk, High Cotton, 82 Queen, The Macintosh, 5 Church Charleston, Toast, and Jenis Splendid Ice Cream. I mean you can only eat so much in one trip!

WHAT WE DID

  • Boone Plantation – I don’t think I have ever been on a Plantation before.  I had heard that there were better plantations in Charleston; however, this one had the famous Avenue of The Oaks….as well as several scenes where The Notebook, my favorite movie, was filmed.  I had to see it!  It is crazy to think about life on a planation…both from the perspective of a wealthy white person as well as a slave.
  • Patriots Point – We toured the U.S.S. Yorktown, an aircraft carrier, and a submarine.  As I grow older, I appreciate history more and more.  Thinking about what life was like back then during World War II just blows my mind away.  There was also a destroyer; however, I think the girls had reached their limit so we opted not to explore it.  There was also a Vietnam Memorial that Justin explored while I took the girls back to the car.  He said it was amazing.  I found a groupon online so we spent half as much on tickets from the regular price of admission, which was another added bonus.  I think overall Justin and I enjoyed it a little more than the girls.  Emerson said only boys would like it…since only boys like planes!
  • Isle of Palms – We went here Thursday morning after the cold weather and precipitation left a coat of icing in Charleston!  Several of the entrances to the beach were closed off for safety reasons.  While it was cold, the girls had fun playing on the beach.  Avery didn’t let her clothes get in the way of building a sandcastle.
  • Horse Drawn Carriage Ride – This was totally worth the money.  The architecture in Charleston is beautiful.  The town is so rich with American history dating back to the 1700’s and it is amazing that our country fruitfully and lavishly existed without so many of the modern day amenities that we have in today’s world. Honestly, it amazes me!
  • Downtown Charleston – We went into historic downtown Charleston three times.  We walked and explored often with no destination in mind.  We strolled by College of Charleston, Marion Square, The Market, Charleston Waterfront, and along King Street and other parts of the town. Harper wore her new hippie hairband the entire trip, along with her many bracelets.  Avery fell and hurt the same knee over and over again…thus the rolled up pant leg.  I came into contact with my own Noah Calhoun:).  We had some downtime in the condo too. The girls enjoyed their Christmas gift! Overall, it was a good trip.  But I am glad to be home…and I think Justin would agree.  My body needs a break, a refresh – some downtime, healthier food, and real workouts.  And as much as I hate to say it, a break from my kids!

Christmas 2017

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Christmas 2017 is a wrap:). And a great one, it was! Truly, I must have said to Justin how great not only the actual day was, but also the preparation leading up to it. While we certainly are not minimalists, we really see the benefit of valuing experiences over stuff and we realize how more stuff creates more stress, decisions, and nagging.  While we did not go minimal, we really did scale back significantly from years past. The girl’s big gift from Justin and me (and to each other) was a trip to Charleston, SC. In fact, I am writing this in the car on our 10-hour car trip to Charleston!

We stuck to our annual tradition and made reservations at PF Changs for dinner. We took pictures in front of the tree before church….

Individuals of the girls…

Doubling up…

We did all three but none of those pictures were worthy of posting!!  Same with the ones with Karolin!  The girls had just fallen over one another and there were a few tears!

Ones with Janaina…

Ones with Mommy…

Ones with Daddy…

A family shot…

A family bonus shot…

And finally just the ladies…

While I had the best of intentions to start pictures earlier this year so as not to be rushing through them, we still ended up rushing through the last ones. We started earlier but an eye glass change and a few dabs that may have knocked someone in the face, and a fall or two here and there, caused us to be as rushed to get the final pictures as previous years. Nonetheless, Justin still took many pictures and I was very happy with the results.

Christmas Eve service was nice. I like how the service is different each year. This year we even did a candlelight Silent Night rendition. It has been years since I have been to a service that sang Silent Night. I always loved that song when I went to Church with Justin pre-kids for Christmas. While I honestly thought it was glaring missing from prior year’s Christmas Eve program, having over 1000-lit candles, many of which were held by little kids was slightly nerve-wracking.

Dinner at PF Changs was good. Service was a little slower than normal but it was delicious as always. I was worried I hadn’t ordered enough food, but I definitely over ordered! Yet, we still managed to eat almost all it…just because it was thereL. Jana, Karolin, Avery, Emerson, Harper, Justin and I all had a good time at dinner.

Upon getting home the girls, put the final touches on their notes to Santa.They had previously written their wish list to Santa.

Speaking of Santa, he actually was already gone by the time we got to the mall for our dinner reservation (unlike last year). Fortunately, we had not planned on getting our pictures taken though this year before dinner since the girls had their picture with Santa a few weeks earlier at Stacy’s holiday open house.

When we got home, the girls took a few more pictures in front of the tree in their new Mickey Mouse Christmas Hannah Jammies.

Then it was off to bed so Santa could make his way down the chimney.

Emerson was the first to wake yesterday and that was close to 8:00. She patiently waited for Avery and Harper to wake up a few minutes later. Karolin and Ludmila were also downstairs in the kitchen. (Jana left about 5:00 a.m. to go on vacation for the week).   It was really neat to see the girls go give hugs to Karolin and Ludmila before they even checked out what Santa brought.

Santa was really good to the girls…bringing them almost everything that was on their lists!!  Here are Avery, Emerson, and Harper’s lists respectively.

While they loved everything, Harper’s favorite was probably the toot gun (Despicable Me fart gun): Emerson probably her Barbie car and phone; and Avery’s was probably her mermaid shimmer and shine, mermaid Barbie and hatchimals. Emerson especially is hard to please so hearing her constant shrieks, laugh, and excitement was amazingly beautiful.

After Santa’s gifts that he left in the living room for the girls, we went to see what Santa put in our stockings!

Then it was breakfast time! I did most the preparation of breakfast the evening before so that I could enjoy the morning as much as possible while still eating breakfast at a relatively decent time. Breakfast smelled delicious and was equally amazing! Homemade blueberry scones, thick Applewood smoked bacon, fried eggs with chives and avocado, and a beautiful fruit platter.

After breakfast, we opened up the rest of the gifts.Again we went minimal, but I promise now one felt deprived in the least. Our family gift to the girls was a trip to Charleston, SC. We gave them a coupon which included some of the things we would be doing. Imagine their surprise, when their totally anything but spontaneous parents told them we were leaving the next day! Ha!

And we took some more pictures of the girls – our younger girls and our older girls:)

The next few hours of the afternoon were low key. Justin and I went for a 40-minute walk while the girls played and cuddled with Karolin and Mila. When we got back, Justin turned the movie Elf on for the girls so that Justin and I had time to pack for our trip. My mom came over in the late afternoon and brought more presents….mostly gift cards which is great because it involves the girls in the decision making process and helps them to understand the value of a dollar. My dad was sick so we Facetimed him while we opened the presents from Russell and Mary. Dinner was a regular dinner….which was still amazing but nice because the focus was on preparing for the trip today and not preparing dinner all day long. Even scaling it down, I bought too much…so I decided the russet potatoes and sweet potatoes weren’t necessary since Mila and my parents weren’t eating with us. I think I overcooked the pork slightly but it was still delicious and looked beautiful! As we ate dinner, Avery asked if we could bow our heads and sing Happy Birthday Jesus, so we did:).

It really was just a great day. Justin and I feel so blessed. He gave me a beautiful card and the words he wrote symbolize our commitment to each other and reaching our common life goals. We were blessed to have our two former au pairs chose to come celebrate Christmas with our family. Our girls were full of joy and excitement with the gifts Santa brought them. Seeing the twinkle in their eyes as they prepared for Nevis’s arrival every morning the last few weeks and Santa and his reindeers arrival Christmas Eve is purely magical.