I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Christmas as we did!
We hosted a lovely dinner at our house on Christmas Eve for Bryan's parents, sister, and her boyfriend. It was a fun day for all. We let the boys open a present early....Mario Kart Wii. They had fun playing that and other Wii games all day. While opening the gifts from Bryan's family, we handed the boys the traditional Christmas Eve gift. They LOVED their new pajamas and their first robes this year.
This year we dropped the "wait for Mommy & Daddy" rule and just let the boys go check under the tree when they got up. I also exhibited some self-control and stayed in bed rather than creep into the boys' room whispering about noises on the roof to get them up at 5am like years past. We slept in this year until shortly after 7. Bryan and I enjoyed the screams of delight when the boys discovered that Santa had visited "already". The boys really raked in the gifts this year and had fun playing with them all day yesterday.
Poor Bryan had to work today, but we brightened his day by taking him out for lunch. I took the day off, but it wasn't a lounge around type of day. I was up before the boys and took down the tree and indoor decorations this morning. I'd rather leave them up for another week or so, but with the daycare it's always best to take the decorations down earlier. Once I wrangled my tired angels out of bed, we enjoyed breakfast at their favorite restaurant and then SHOPPING. Bryan and I decided to get them the official Baku Rack for their Bakugan. Of course, they have more Bakugan than will fit in one rack each, but Santa gave them Baku Tins that hold their cards and some more Bakugan. We also saw the need for larger totes for their Star Wars toys. Then the boys had to spend their Christmas money and the gift cards we gave them to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Their Build-A-Bear animals have new outfits to strut around in this afternoon. Being at the Mall of America also brings about the cry of "Can we see the sharks?" Good thing we have a membership to the aquarium, and needed to stop to renew it for the next year anyway. We saw the sharks, but it was a "speed tour" because the boys and I were getting tired. We walked straight to Shark Cove and skipped gazing at the other animals.
We have more festivities coming over the next week as we see more family and friends.
Hugs to all! ~Anna-Marie
