New and Old Christmas Traditions

As I suspect is the case for most young families, the Christmas season is filled with creating new traditions and cherishing old ones. We certainly have many traditions in our family, and below are brief memories of each of the traditions that happen right around Christmas. 

Celebration Crossing. We've been to the State Museum to see Santa and ride the Celebration Crossing every year since Moira was born. It all started because I was nostalgic about the many times our family went to L.S. Ayres, the tea room, and the little train when I was a little girl. The State Museum is amazing, though, and has definitely put its spin on this tradition. The girls had a fantastic time riding the train (Hannah absolutely loved it), and Hannah even made it through the uncomfortable event of sitting near Santa (as long as we were nearby). I was happy about Hannah's hesitation because somehow it ended up that Alan made it into the Santa picture too. What a rarity (he was a good sport). Afterwards, Hannah was upset about leaving the train, so we stopped by a mastodon exhibit as well--the girls were fascinated. I hope we find the time to go back to the State Museum soon. It really is a special place.






Christmas Eve. Every year of my life (except for those when I've been in England), we have celebrated mass on Christmas Eve and then my parents have had friends over to their house afterwards for a low-key party. People I've known since I was a little girl routinely make an appearance, and it's fun now that a new generation of kids are experiencing this tradition as well. The girls love getting into their "party dresses" and had a lovely time. 







Christmas Morning. We started a new tradition this year by having my family over for breakfast. The girls had so much fun waking up in the morning and being surprised to find that not only were Aunt Kate and Uncle Scott at their house but also Grandma and Grandpa! They were arguably even more excited to discover the treasures that had been left for them. Watching little ones experience the delights of Christmas morning is pretty special, so I hope you'll take a few minutes and check out the video below or here. Without a doubt, the memory for me is that by 9am they had put on their dress-up clothes and stayed in them the entirety of the day! I thought I'd have all these fun photos of the girls in their PJs, but I was definitely wrong. Hannah was thrilled with the idea of being a "princess," and she's my kind of princess because she also also loved her train set. Likewise, Moira loved her roller skates (both were requests for Santa). Nonetheless, I should have known that their favorites would be the "dress-up clothes. Moira also spent a lot of the day on a game she received called "Kids on Stage" that is essentially charades. She had a blast playing the game with Grandma and Grandpa as well as Alan and me. It was a delightful day for the girls--what more could we have hoped for?











My birthday. For the last few years, we've been going to Benihana to celebrate my birthday. It's one of the only places open, and again, the girls love the idea of getting dressed up for a celebration. It also doesn't hurt that Benihana knows how to put on a show! Hannah was really intrigued this year with the chef's skills, and we learned that they both like to gobble down shrimp. As for me, it's hard to believe I've been on this earth for 36 years, but it's true. It's always nice to celebrate with so much of my family around me (although around the holidays, it's a bit hard because we all miss our family who live farther away). 



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