The Bestest Almost-Christmas Weekend!

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And so, as usual, we begin our tale at the end and work backwards. I've invented a time machine and it's called Blogspot...I give up trying to figure it out. Deal. These are the kids on Sunday at approximately 3:49 p.m., just moments after they had walked through the door of the Ted Constant Center and found out they were (surprise!) attending "Phineas & Ferb Live!".





I think Annika's face in this one pretty much sums up the general success of this surprise. General fun was had by all. All of us sang, some of us danced...


Now...travel back in time with me to Saturday and the FRG cookie exchange. Yes, I baked. A random cookie recipe I found online. Yes, they were edible. Some might even say slightly good. We have a professional baker in our FRG (Family Readiness Group), so I knew I wasn't competing for any titles. She won, hands down. But it's me, nevertheless, having a cookie. Which is standard behavior for the XO's wife during the cookie exchange.




Annika--eating one of the aforementioned professional bakers' cookies. Can you tell how delicious they were by looking? The only better ones I've tasted are my mother-in-law's. Those are like crack...whenever she sends them, we just go ahead and down the whole box in a sitting. Oh, the toothaches, but they are so good!! (Donna--hint, hint).





The classic "chocolate goatee" and "glazed look of maximum sugar saturation".



We came, we saw, we ate cookies!





We tried to get a nice family photo by the fireplace. Here are some of the outtakes for your viewing pleasure...





What? You thought we only took beautiful pictures here at MN is Heaven?



Well, they don't always work out according to plan.



See? This is the worst of the bunch. Someone please send a priest over for my husband and a jester for my bored children. Clap-clap!



And again, travelling backwards through time, William got to have ice cream at Jason's Deli...and I got to have lunch with Miss Patty and and then we shoe shopped--it doesn't get better than that!


Then the XO and I got dolled up and attended the ship's Christmas party that night...


This is us, trying to be sexy in the elevator...(isn't he dreamy?) The Christmas party was at a classy hotel on the beach. The food was good, the company was good and no one got drunk and puked on us (it has happened, for real!).




Oh, and we also had supper at McDonald's after our fantastic time at "Phineas & Ferb" and after THAT, we took the kids for a tour through the fantastical, magical, enchanted holiday light display at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.




So, we pretty much rock as parents and also as sexy people this weekend. Awesome!




Stay tuned for my next episode: The Great Wolf Lodge, Williamsburg. December 16-18th.




Merry Almost-Christmas Everyone!

Comments

DD4 said…
This was fun, Rachel! Thanks for the new photos. The cookie exchange is a great idea. I'll see what I can do about the Christmas cookies.
December 13, 2011 at 3:47:00 AM GMT+1
pete said…
Holy Cow! Lucky no one in your family is diabetic, yet. I think that the premise " give er heck now, you can cut back later" kind of fits. What was the show like? Somehow I imagine ice skates for some reason. Miss you guys.
December 13, 2011 at 3:52:00 PM GMT+1
Heidi said…
What a fun week! The cookie exchange sounds very fun! My Moms cookies are amazing! Have a great time at Great Wolf Lodge!
December 14, 2011 at 7:59:00 PM GMT+1
carrster said…
Those are awesome photos! ha! I love the "sexy elevator shots." Nice!
December 28, 2011 at 1:48:00 AM GMT+1
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