Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve festivities included...

A lazy morning of puzzles and naps:



(The girls are quick to comfort Oliver with various stuffed animals.)

A trip to the zoo (a tradition from Ben's family...no crowds and a good way to pass the time for our very anxious and excited children):

(Oliver and I are pictured via shadow.)




(Watching the anemones get fed.)



The traditional Olsen family Christmas dinner:

(There is usually an elaborate layered jello but it's too time-consuming for me so the kids were quite pleased with making jello jigglers in Christmas shapes instead.)



Acting out the Nativity:

(Amelia had been waiting all month for Oliver to be baby Jesus.)

















Chocolate fondue:


We finished up the evening by setting out cookies for Santa and reading The Night Before Christmas. Then Ben and I watched It's a Wonderful Life after the kids were in bed.

Amelia reading her angel part in the Nativity:

Christmas at National Harbor

Even though National Harbor is kind of a silly manufactured area that's trying too hard to be hip, it's only five minutes from our house and is pretty festive at Christmas time. There are fireworks every Friday in December (we caught the end of one show a few weeks ago) and a water-skiing Santa on Christmas Eve.

We headed over there Thursday night to see the big tree by the water and check out the festivities inside the Gaylord Convention Center.







Outside the Gaylord Convention Center:


The girls loved riding on the train, even though it only went in a small circle over and over and over again:








One of the best features of the Convention Center is riding the glass elevators to the top and looking down at the roof:











The fountain show:




An impromptu dance party at the tree (the lights on the tree are set to music):

More Lights!

We always love going to the Festival of Lights at the Temple. They have a great display of nativities from around the world and lots of beautifully decorated trees. And the prettiest display of lights in any parking lot I've seen.






(Elsa by the Scottish nativity.)


It's unfortunate that they don't have the "live" nativity anymore. Ben and I were actually Joseph and Mary one night during our first Christmas here. I was even pregnant...it was very authentic.

LIGHTS!

Last year we discovered the Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring, Maryland, and decided to go again this year. (As a bonus, it's near the Temple so we get two light displays in one evening.) They have a lot of fun lights as well as some trains.
















(Ben complains that I don't put any pictures of me on the blog...so here is a blurry version of me. I stayed nice and warm with my new cowl scarf...thanks Kristilyn!)




Amelia and Elsa had so much fun running around the garden looking at lights...they loved this caterpillar tunnel at the entrance. As always, Oliver slept through our adventure.

Sprucing up the Holidays

After our visit to the Botanic Gardens, we visited the Capitol Christmas Tree (from Wyoming and decorated in a Western theme) and then the National Christmas Tree (a Colorado Blue Spruce) on the Ellipse. Our visits were fairly brief since it was freezing outside, but we did witness a marriage proposal at the Capitol Christmas Tree (she said yes) and were there when the lights were turned on.