Kicking off the holidays....

After a weekend of post-Thanksgiving camping we were back home and ready to rid the house of pumpkins and usher in all the Christmas decor! It's always a fun few days decking the halls, picking out our tree, breaking out the Christmas jammies and firing up those mistletoe candles!

Once the house was decorated and the Christmas Spode was out the kids were welcomed, on December 1st, by their good buddy Al - their personal "Elf on the Shelf." He arrived with chocolate filled advent calendars and I was happy to see that Adam was still mystified and oh boy was Harper really into all the Christmas magic this year as well!

A good thing too since our second big activity on December 1 was going to visit Santa at Kathleen's office party - one of our favorite traditions! We weren't quite sure how Harper was going to react seeing as he had already begun expressing some concern about Santa - the whole "sneaking into the house" concept was a bit disconcerting to him. Alas, upon seeing Santa arrive he busted under the velvet rope and gave Santa a huge hug around his legs! It happened so fast I couldn't get a picture - but I'll never forget it. The boys both proceeded to enjoy their visits with Santa in his sleigh telling him all the things they were wishing for.

These are the moments that make the holiday season so awesome - and it was only just beginning!

"Santa! I know him!"

We were so excited to find out that even though Kathleen's office moved locations that they were still going to do the annual kids Christmas party with Santa! Hooray! This year it was at the Reston Sheraton, so with a new venue we weren't quite sure what to expect, but as per usual her company pulled out all the stops to put on a festive, colorful, treat filled morning for the kids. It's also always a great excuse to get the kids dressed up for some pics! 

This year's theme was "Candy Land" and they really did make it feel like you were dropped right into the middle of the classic board game. They even had the characters from the game walking around. No detail was missed. 

Of course the main event is getting to see Santa. We made sure to be first in line and we had our fingers crossed that things would go better this year between Harper and Santa than it had last year...

First up was Adam and the two of them had quite a nice chat. Then we put Harper up there with Adam has a buffer - and sure enough, Harper was quite comfortable and mesmerized - he even said "Yeeeeeessss!" when Santa asked if he'd like for him to bring some toys on Christmas. Too cute - and this time, smiles all around. 

After that the kids enjoyed some treats, got some balloon animals (or rather balloon Grinches!) and Harper even made a little craft. 

It's always a fun morning and we're thankful to Noblis for putting on this even year after year.