Christmas Eve

The girls woke up on Christmas Eve and both got into their princess costumes which is their new favorite with Grandma and Grandpa here. Sofia isn't really into dress up unless she has a friend over or we have visitors (especially Grandma and Grandpa). She loves wearing her princess dress from last Christmas that Grandma gave her for the fun tea day we all enjoyed together. Olivia has several frilly dresses that she wears pretty consistently and even wears the one Grandma got her for the tea last year too, even though it is pretty short and tight. She loves it! When she wears a frilly dress, she walks around saying "I a princess" to just about anyone. Both girls also love walking around in their "princess shoes" even though they can't possibly be comfortable and are rather treacherous to wear over our floor since the shoes are so slippery!

The girls enjoyed hot chocolate, scrambled eggs and toast while CK and his Dad left for a chilly (39 degrees) flight in the biplane! Connie and I set to work and started making the food for that night. We decided that we wanted to open all of our presents on Christmas Eve so the girls could play with their stocking toys on Christmas Day. We also planned the main Christmas meal for 2pm with Scott, Brenda and Oliver coming over for dessert at 3, so we figured we wouldn't have time to open presents on Christmas day. For Christmas Eve we planned to have a bunch of appetizers with eggnog while we opened our gifts. The appetizers included stuffed mushrooms, Thelma's ceviche, brie and crackers, goats cheese rolled in craisins, parsley and walnuts, homemade mac and cheese, and sliced summer sausage.

After CK and his Dad got home, we got the kids ready for a trip to Gaylord Texan's Ice! We hadn't gone to Ice in years and when we last went it was overwhelmingly crowded, although it was very interesting and fun. This time, we bought 4pm tickets and walked right in! It was perfect! It was really impressive and both kids loved it. Sofia really loved that she was able to go down the ice slide several times. Although we took Olivia to the top of the kiddie slide, she was not interested in going down and couldn't go on our lap. After walking through the ice sculptures, we took CK and Connie into the lobby to see the trains and decorations. Then we headed home.

Once we were home, CK built a fire while Connie and I set the food out on the coffee table. We all enjoyed the appetizers and then started opening presents!

Hot chocolate with Grandma

Someone likes the mini marshmallows and whipped cream and leaves the rest

Sofia loves it all!

In our blue parkas ready for Ice!

Once inside! Amazing!

The four of us

Ice details

CK and Olivia in the ice cab

The ice nativity at the end

All of us by the trains in the lobby

Sofia with her Grandma

Ready to open presents

All of us!