Christmas Vacation

We had a great Christmas vacation! We kept busy with some of the activities we do each year, including making paper placemats on Christmas Eve day (to use for breakfast on Christmas morning),

making gingerbread houses (we did our own and these clever ones at the library),

acting out the Christmas story on Christmas Eve (Kate was a fantastic angel and took her part very seriously),

making our ice cream in a bag on New Year's Eve (shown below in my fantastic Goodwill parfait glasses that I am in love with) and having a penny hunt on New Year's Day (see last year's post here if you want more of description of our New Year's traditions),
and going to the Nutcracker (The Pacific Northwest Ballet's version of the Nutcracker is the best one we've seen. The sets are all designed by Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are, and they are truly amazing. It was a wonderful show!)

We also did some fun extras like go to the top of the Space Needle with our friends the Huillets (the sky was amazingly clear and beautiful for Seattle, and the views were spectacular!),

and spend a couple of days at Great Wolf Lodge. (Too many pictures of that to post here--that will have to be my next post). It was a great break from the crazy schedule of school, activities, sports, making lunches and rushing around. It was so nice to be able to sleep in and spend time together as a family. Usually I am ready for the kids to go back to school after a few weeks off, but not this time. I loved having them all home with me and living life at a slower pace. (Of course, I am writing this a week after the fact, when the memory of the fighting has faded and only the nostalgia of fun times remains...) But anyway, thank goodness for much needed vacations!