Christmas Outings

Last week we enjoyed two special outings for Christmas. On Thursday, Julie and Emily came over, and Julie and I switched cars. Then she and Emily took the kids Christmas shopping while I ran some last-minute errands. The kids shopped for gifts for each other as well as for me and MJ, and then Julie took them to lunch. I was planning on taking a cute picture of them all together, but unfortunately I locked Julie's keys in her car, and in the ensuing chaos the picture was forgotten.

Despite the unfortunate ending, they all had a great time together. I think this might be a new holiday tradition (the shopping, not the locking myself out of Julie's car!). They had a blast, and I got one last errand-running opportunity before the big day. Win-win!

The next day was Friday, and our annual Christmas outing with Alice. What fun! For the last several years, Alice has let each child pick a book from the bookstore, and then we've treated her to lunch afterwards. It's a nice, calm outing in the midst of the Christmas craziness. Plus, what's a better gift than to spend time together?