Christmas this, Christmas that.

I'm sure every household has it's list of things they love to do at Christmas.  Ours is typically long, which is absolutely fabulous.  The more the merrier, right?

But so far, it's pretty simple and concise.

1. Little People Nativity

My children absolutely adore this set, and sentences like "Stop putting baby Jesus in your mouth" and "Why is the Angel in the silverware drawer" can be heard regularly throughout our house.  I don't know if it's the novelty since we only bring it out once a year, or the fact that we've been telling and acting out the Christmas story that's at the root, but they play with it darn near all day long.

2. Bass Pro Shop Santa - if you know me, you know I'm not exactly the hunting and fishing type.  I'd seen adds for Bass Pro Shops and knew they had an in-house Santa all month long, and so we decided to visit.  We have sooooo been missing out!  Firstly, Bass Pro Shops must be designed by the folks behind Disney or Las Vegas, because it is massive and wonderfully done.  They have a waterfall, small indoor aquarium, dozens of beautifully stuffed animals, all inside a rustic 2 story masterpiece of a store.  If we'd been there to shop, I'd never have known where to start; I was too busy looking in every direction.  It was seriously impressive.  But Santa's wonderland.  WOW.

Animated reindeer and hundreds of lights and trains and coloring stations and toys and "shooting" stations and freshly baked cookies and chestnuts... it was amazing!

And a carousel.  I mentioned that, right?

Yep.

I have a lot of pictures from this day where all or part of Leah is a blur of motion.  She was pretty excited.

And of course, a visit with Santa.

We got a picture of Leah and a family photo, completely free of charge.  The whole experience was pretty cool, especially considering the magnitude of what they do.  If you're in the area, I'd definitely recommend a trip.  

3. Parade of Lights

This year, it was a whopping 7 degrees for the Parade of Lights, so no pictures were taken.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Maggiano's, one of my absolute favorite restaurants.  Then, we huddled in the van with the heat on high, turned on A Muppet Christmas Carol and let the kids sip on hot cocoa while we waited for the parade.  It was awesome.  We did bundle up in 17 layers and brave the cold while the parade came by.  Lucky for us, our kids are both total holiday dorks like their momma so they were absolutely thrilled to watch the parade - enough even to forget about the fact that they were freeeezing.  When we saw Rudolph, they both clapped and cheered and Leah started singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at the top of her lungs.  

My favorite part of this season is that my big one is old enough to remember Christmas songs.  It is routine to hear her belting them out in the backseat.  HOW GREAT IS THAT?! 

Have I mentioned how much I love them, and this Christmasy season?  My small heart might just grow three sizes and pop out of that little measuring box thing.