We had three Christmas parties in a row, and boy were they fun.
Friday night, Brian and I went to a business Christmas party. It's always a lively, entertaining crowd, which makes for a great party. But it's also a gift exchange party. Ya know, the ones where you choose a gift and then if the next person wants your gift, they can steal it. And if the next person wants it, they can steal it again. It can get pretty funny.
Brian says I have bad Christmas-gift-exchange etiquette, because I chose our own gift from the wrapped pile and ended up keeping it. Hey, everyone had a chance to steal it, but no one did, so I still played fair. And now we have a hysterical set of Elf (the movie) beer glasses chilling in our freezer. Love em!
Saturday morning, my mom showed up bright and early. Every year since I was a little girl we have gone to see the Nutcracker ballet together. This year, we decided to buck tradition a bit and include Payton. And since Payton is not a little boy who would enjoy attending the ballet, we opted instead for the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.
I was fairly sure he would love the show since I'd seen it once in NY and loved it. But I was so blown away by how much he truly enjoyed it. Hold on though, let me back-track for a second...
We started out our afternoon by going to lunch at my mom and I's favorite restaurant...Brio. I checked ahead to make sure they had a good kid's menu, and Payton was pleased when his big cheeseburger and fancy french fries arrived at the table.
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| P.S. You know you're at a nice restaurant when you ask for ketchup and they bring it to you in a special silver bowl. |
Payton was so well behaved during our lunch. He carried on a wonderful conversation about traveling in Europe. Asked lots of great questions. And used excellent table manners. I was beaming to say the least!
After lunch we made the short drive to the Performing Arts Center for the show. We arrived fairly early, so we had plenty of time to look around the gift shop, take photos, and...
...go to the candy bar!
He was very pleased to say the least. And considering he had enough candy to last him through the entire performance plus some left over to bring home to Parker, I was pretty happy too.
I only snapped one photo inside the performance hall because they're quite strict about the "no flash photography" rule. Plus, I was just thoroughly enjoying the show and not worried one bit about documenting it for the blog, Instagram or Facebook. I was living in the moment!
I will say, that if you ever get the chance to attend this show, I highly recommend it. The dancers and singers are amazingly talented and the show itself is so well choreographed and designed, it really takes you to another place. Payton has decided he wants to go every year from now on. :)
After the show, we had our neighborhood Christmas block party.
Each year, our community does a Santa parade where cars drive throughout the community tossing out beads and candy and collecting gifts for the needy. And of course Santa rides on top of a Fire Engine. The kids absolutely love it.
Of course it's a nightmare to photograph with all the lights, but here's a couple:
We all collapsed in bed that evening, said a sad goodbye to my mom the next day, and rested up only to hit our third Christmas party of the weekend that evening.
Our good friends, the Bravos, hosted a family-friendly Christmas party at their house. The kids decorated foam penguins, played games like "pin-the-nose on Rudolph" and enjoyed an amazing hot chocolate bar.
But to everyone's surprise (wink, wink) in the middle of the party, who should show up??? SANTA!!!
He came in "Ho-Ho-Ho-ing" and twinkling his bells, carrying a huge golden sack, which we later discovered had a gift for each child in attendance (with their name on each present!).
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| Parker was so SHOCKED when Santa walked in! |
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| Santa talked to them about Jesus' birthday, being good listeners, and helping out around the house. Then he read them the "Night Before Christmas." He was fantastic! |
Santa would take out a gift, call the child by name, and then have them sit on his lap for a picture.
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| Do you think Parker was just a tad bit happy? |
Then all the kids opened their gifts at the same time. It was like a graduation ceremony when everyone throws their black caps in the air...except this time it was wrapping paper flying everyone.
What a truly magical night for everyone. Thank you again Bravo Family for hosting and arranging such a memorable event!
After such a busy and fun weekend, you'd think we'd be hibernating this week. But no...
Tonight we have Cub Scouts, followed by a music recital at school. Then we've got Payton's Christmas school party Wednesday, Parker's school party Thursday, followed by a special early girl's night out birthday dinner for me, and then another weekend of fun-filled Christmas activities.
Phew... is it January yet?
Just teasing. I'm doing my best to savor each and every Christmas event. It's been one wild ride, but I'd do it all again in a second!
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