Santa Claus is coming to OLD Town

Did I mention the other major event that took place on Saturday??? A Visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Although both were very friendly, the girls were a little intimidated at first. Ellie was screeching so was very happy to have her pacifier and didn't last too long. "Sometimes she cries a lot," Evie explained to Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Evie got excited telling Santa about all the gifts she would like for Christmas, including a kitchen set and more blocks, and apparently, "a lot of race cars." Wha?

The fun weekend continued with a visit from Bebe and Popi!

It would be hard to top the White House, but then Evie and Ellie had two special visitors, Bebe and Popi! After a delicious pasta dinner at Faccia Luna, the family returned home for a little dessert and to open presents.

Looks like Evie and Ellie are having a serious discussion about the Thomas the Tank Engine book. "I like the part with the troublesome trucks," Evie tells her sister.

Evie was very excited about getting to open her gifts from Bebe and Popi early. She got some great gifts - a cash register for her market, Fiddlestix (which she used to create a fire and roast some marshmallows), and some new Thomas the Train pajamas! She was delighted! Thank you Bebe and Popi!

The next morning, we headed out for Capitol Hill to visit the US Botanic Garden and see its holiday display. We had seen it last year, but this year Evie was definitely more into it, especially when she saw her friends Thomas and Percy coming down the track!

Even Ellie seemed to enjoy the trains and the beautiful displays of houses made out of barks and leaves.

Two dads and a baby! Evie is delighted when she sees friend James going around the main Christmas tree.

Ah, that McDonald clan! They really know how to have a fun time!

Beanie and Pat in front of the Capitol. Thanks for a lovely visit...

Just in the neighborhood and decided to drop by the White House!

What an amazing Saturday morning we had! Mommy got tickets to tour the White House from the UVa alumni club so we all dressed up and went downtown to experience the holidays, presidential-style. Check out this model White House made out of gingerbread! Evie and Mommy were drooling.
Dad's first couple of pictures with the iPhone came out a little fuzzy, but here Evie wanted to pose in front of two paper and felt covered trees.

Mommy and Evie pose next to a paper mache sculpture of Bo, the official First Dog.

Evie poses in front of a wintery-themed tree in the East Room , decorated with shimmering snowflake ornaments and paper leaves. She has a very aspirational look on her face - maybe she is thinking of living here one day, or maybe she is thinking about 1835, when President Andrew Jackson created an indoor winter wonderland for children in the East Room, complete with a cottonball snowball fight.*

The Blue Room is where the official White House Christmas tree is located - the 18'6" balsam fir from Neshkoro, Wisconsin touched the top of the oval ceiling. The theme of the tree this year was "to honor the service and selflessness we see in our troops, veterans and their families."

Mommy reads out a holiday card that a military child had sent in to honor their parents serving in uniform. Medals, badges, and patches from all the military branches were displayed throughout the tree as ornaments.

Daddy, Mommy and Evie got a group picture in the State Dining Room (hey, is that Opa's picture in the background? Oh, just President Lincoln). Mommy would like to be invited to an official state dinner someday...

In the entrance hall, a group of singers serenaded us with Christmas carols. Did you know that the North Entrance door used to be open to the public? In 1837 President Andrew Jackson invited the public in to share a giant wedge of cheese he had been given. It was 4 feet round, 2 feet thick, and weighed 1400 pounds.* This President Jackson seemed like a fun guy!


Daddy and Evie pose in front of the North Entrance before leaving the White House grounds. Mommy is inspired to go back and watch one of her favorite movies, Dave, to relive the experience. What an exciting morning!

*all fun facts provided by the Junior Ranger Activity Guide for the White House, a very educational piece for kids and parents too! Mommy learned many fun facts.

Evie's first dance recital

The family headed over to Tiny Dancers in Alexandria for Evie's first dance recital today. Evie had done some practicing here and there of her routine, but Mommy's only hope was that she would not pick her nose while the video camera was rolling. She surpassed all expectations and amazed her Mommy, Ba, Opa and even Ellie was impressed. Video to come soon once we figure that out...

While Evie was inside for the first part of class, Ellie enjoyed the mild weather outside with Opa.

She has lots of smiles and giggles these days!

Before we started, Evie held her sister up, until "Ba, please take her. She's too heavy!"
Evie is all prettied up for her recital.
Doesn't she look like a real ballerina? Evie warms up.

Up on her toes.

Evie tiptoes across the floor, twirls and then does a princess curtsy. Bravo! The girls sashay across the floor. (Evie is not wearing the costume for that day - Clara's nightgown from the Nutcracker - because she wanted to show off her ballerina dress from Ba).

At the end of the recital, the girls joined hands and took a bow.
Ba gave Evie some flowers in the tradition of prima ballerinas (although not thrown at her feet). Evie gave 2 of the 3 to her teacher, and then put one in a vase and gave it to Mommy. What a generous heart!

We are all proud smiles after her recital!

Deck the Halls... on the Santa Express

After a delicious brunch with Lori, Julie, Maya, Brant and their son Connor, the family got to decorate our beautiful tree.

Evie had a certain technique of clustering the ornaments on one branch. Ahead of her time, as always.

Even Ellie got into the action, although a lot of the ornaments went straight to her mouth.

Then Dad hung the garland outside with the help of Evie while Ellie watched from inside of the storm door.

Evie all bundled up and posing by the tree.

The next day, the family took a trip on the Santa Express, a trip from Old Town to Manassas on the train, with a special guest - a bagpiping Santa and Mrs. Claus too.

This was Evie's first trip on a train. She loved sitting by the window and watching the world race by, while eating her cookie as well. On the way back, we sang carols and rang bells.

But the highlight of the trip was a nice visit with Santa. Evie was a little shy, but remembered to let Santa know that she would like a kitchen set for Christmas.

It's the holiday season...

Christmas in Old Town always kicks off with the Scottish Parade down St. Asaph Street. We are right where the parade starts and therefore always manage to get prime seating to see all the bagpipers, men in kilts, and little dogs wearing sweaters. Evie enjoyed listening to the bands with Dad the most, along with the lollipops.

Once she woke up, Ellie got to show off her Scottish plaid.

Ba and Opa planned to drop by as a surprise and found us at the parade.

Santa was traveling in style in a convertible this year, and apparently brought his pet cheetah along for the ride.


Ellie looks excited to see her first glimpse of Santa Claus!

That night we lit the German carousel - Ellie was amazed!
The next day was a big event: Evie's first viewing of a real performance of the Nutcracker! She and her friend Izzy wait excitedly for our other friends to arrive to take our seats in the auditorium.


Evie, between friends Sidney and Ava, loved every minute of the performance, as you can see from this picture. "Look, Mom, there's ballerinas!"

After the curtain went down, the girls danced around on stage for a couple of minutes. Evie and Ava show off their dance moves.


Hot pink shoes (but her stockings were a little too big)!


The girls are getting a real kick of playing with each other these days. In this scene, Ellie and Evie sit in the "boat" of Daddy's legs while Mommy pretends to be a hungry shark (with a camera). Evie was very dedicated to making sure the shark did not nibble on baby Ellie's fingers.

The girls like to play in the hamper sometimes - with its wheels it makes a pretty good car. Evie made everyone wear crowns and here was Ellie's. What a wonderful weekend for all! And to think the holiday fun is only beginning!