Christmas at the Capitol

We had fun checking out the Christmas decor at the Capitol last Saturday and listening to a choir sing in the rotunda. We wandered down the street and popped into the Museum of Natural Sciences and the NC Museum of History (both are free!) for a few minutes and then saw the outdoor lights come on back at the Capitol. We ended our day at the Apex Nativity Celebration where they had hundreds of nativities from around the world on display as well as musical groups performing. The kids had fun doing activities in the children's room.

The kids loved the giant Lego nativity.

Nativities.

Our church does an annual Nativity display with over 900 nativities from around the world. We were able to check it out one evening and it was pretty amazing. They also have various musical groups from the community perform as well as a live nativity and the whole event ends with a Messiah sing-in.

They put lights under the table cloths which looked really neat. The kids' favorite was a huge nativity made entirely out of legos. They all loved examining each nativity but Oliver's excitement and curiosity made me a bit nervous. I don't know how many times I had to repeat "don't touch."

There was also a room for the children where they could do various activities and dress up in nativity costumes. The kids really loved dressing up.

Dueling Marys.

national cathedral.

After freezing at the National Tree, we opted for an indoor activity so we made our way to the National Cathedral. They have a large display of beautiful nativities from around the world at Christmas time. Oliver fell asleep on the way there and miraculously stayed asleep in Ben's arms so we were able to enjoy the exhibit a bit more leisurely. The views from the cathedral are always beautiful. There was nobody else in the observation tower so the kids enjoyed running around looking out all of the windows and hiding from us.

I'm pretty sure this is the smallest nativity in the world...in the eye of a needle. Trust me, it's there.

nativities.

I had fun expanding my nativity collection when I was in Peru. I couldn't pass up all those alpacas.

Alpaca! Llama! And a very unswaddled baby Jesus.

A mariachi band as the three wise men.

Peruvian jungle nativity. How could I resist baby Jesus in a canoe? Not to mention a SLOTH! And whatever that other animal is. Any guesses?

One of my favorites...we picked this up in Germany and it plays music.

From Italy.

Germany, Thailand, Israel, Peru

For the kids.