Our Christmas Eve celebration started off with a mid-afternoon visit to a beautiful cathedral on Manhattan's upper east side. Every year they have a Nativity program complete with donkeys, llamas, and sheep. The entire nativity is reenacted and sung by children of the congregation. It was unbelievably beautiful and well done, and the building acoustics were incredible.
After getting up to take Eva to the bathroom, I found one of these beauties parked in the corner, and had to get a shot. The baskets you see in the background, contained cute bell Christmas ornaments that they handed out to each of the children at the conclusion of the program. You don't want to know what the red bucket was used for.
To heighten the holiday experience, we let the kids take the bus on the way home. I am not a fan of buses here in NYC- I will take a subway over a bus any day. I feel the drivers (and the riders) of the buses are an especially grumpy group NYC'ers that I try to avoid. Plus, most of the time I find myself out-walking the bus as it stops frequently for passengers and for traffic. But, that is another post entirely....the point is that we got into the holiday spirit and granted a MTA Christmas wish by letting the munchkins ride their beloved bus- and they even managed to find three seats in a row in the back of the bus during rush hour, which is truly a Christmas miracle.
When we arrived home, the kids unwrapped their Christmas PJ's from grandma and grandpa, and we read, "T'was the Night Before Christmas." Eggnog was served, which is a Call tradition. I have determined that Call blood must run thick in Owen's veins....he is my only child that enjoys a good cup of nog. Maddy and Eva are always finished after a few sips. We put out our cookies for Santa, Madeline drew Mr. Claus a picture, and we called it a night. The girls and Owen went to bed with loads of excitement in their little bodies for what the morning would bring.
The morning came early........and as you can see, Owen slept well. Here are some images from our day:
Making a masterpiece with new marker set from Santa. Also in the background: a new Walkie Talkie.....that was definitely the highlight present of the day for Eva.
"I got vegetables from Santa??"
Someone was very excited about a her new fleece blanket from Gma and Gpa.
Taking a spin in his new "El Toro" bike. He thinks it is a Spider Man bike- I guess because it is red? Don't tell him the truth.
Saying "thank you" for gifts, and wishing Merry Christmas.
3 comments:
always enjoy reading about you guys and the kids. precious pictures of them :) Miss you lots.
Nice pix!!! Is that you telling us what YOU got for Christmas?
BUS: the back seat is terrible because it's always HOT.
Sweet bike. Hunter would be jealous, and would probably call it a spiderman bike too.
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