Christmas was great this year. The girls are in the prime time of enjoying Christmas. They definitely understand what's going on, but no one is too cool for all the fun yet. The beginning of December started off a little rough with the second round of sickness working its way through the family (even Mom and Dad got pretty sick). Very fortunately, everyone started to feel better right before Mimi and Papa came out to visit. They flew out here the week before Christmas and Uncle Trey also flew out a couple days later. It's been a couple of years since Trey's been out here, so the girls had a great time showing him all their toys and just hanging out with him in general. We also got out a bit to check out the local attractions.
One day, we headed down to Denver to check out the Denver Museum. Trey hadn't been there since he was just a little kid, so he had a great time checking it out. We didn't get to see much since we got out a little late, and Emily ran out of steam shortly after noon.
The city sets up an ice skating rink every year around Christmas. Papa, Uncle Trey, Dad, and the girls headed there the morning of Christmas Eve while Mom and Mimi did some prep work for Christmas. Kara had taken ice skating lessons a couple of years ago. She was a little rusty at first but was skating all around by the end. Emily tried to skate a bit at first but ended up just letting Dad pull her around in a sled. We were the first ones there, but within 30 minutes the rink was packed with people enjoying the nice day and the skating.
Emily learned the words to several Christmas carols - Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer were her favorites - and would sing them over and over again for everyone. Kara enjoyed teaching Emily alternative versions of Christmas carols ("Jingle Bells, Batman smells..."). We bought a little bear that plays a version of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" that Emily loved to dance to. Unfortunately, we never could get a good video of her dancing. Maybe next year.
Christmas day was a blast. Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Amy came over early in the morning to get the day started. The girls got some amazing gifts this year from Santa. Emily was still a little slower with opening presents. She always wants to play with her new toy, while Kara is definitely at the age where she just rips into all her presents.
The girls are already planning for next year!
Kid quotes:
"We need to keep up appearances... for Emily." - Kara, as we were putting out cookies and milk for Santa. I think she's on to us...
"Drat." - Emily's favorite new phrase
Link to December pictures
Link to Christmas Day pictures
