Atwood-Family of FIVE: Christmas Eve

We had a fabulous Christmas Eve this year! It was a bit busy and crazy but we had a great time! We left for our annual trip to the zoo at about 9:30 am. Jamie slept about 30 minutes in the car but enough that he was able to enjoy himself. We had such a great time-it was pretty chilly and add to that after about an hour of being there the snow and flurries turned to actual rain, and we huddled up inside animal houses for as long as we could. We went to 2 houses that we've only strolled through quickly before, but this time we took our time. We saw animals we hadn't seen before (like the big boa constrictor that was hiding the corner and I only saw the dead rabbit on the stone-pointed it out to Anne thinking it was the exhibit, not realizing it was 1. dead and 2. the boa's lunch. Anne, thankfully, was oblivious). It seemed like the animals were starved for attention and they all were showing off for us, coming close to the glass or doing things you don't normally get to see them doing (eating their lunch, fighting, and 2 penguins actually played with us!). We also spent a considerable amount of time the Play Zoo, which we've been to before, but this time we were able to really explore it. We went into the Animal hospital, the Lemur section, the face painting, and the garden center. We've never really played in those sections before because they are always crowded. But this time, there were only a handful of people so we were able to really play and explore and have fun.

After the zoo-we left at about 1 pm-rushed home, put the kids in their beds for about an hour and then rushed back out to church for our Christmas Eve service. We went to the family service, which was essentially run by kids for kids. Although I'm sure it's a good thing for kids ages 5-10, it wasn't quite what we were expecting. Hopefully next year Jamie will have a later bedtime and won't completely melt down for the more traditional service they have at 7 pm. After church, rushed back home, put some food in the Buddy Boy and got him into bed. Anne also ate quickly and went bed early because you never know when Santa is gonna show up. I kept telling her the she cannot come out of her room because if Santa saw her, he would not leave her presents. I think she was so scared of that, she didn't make an attempt until about 7:20 the next morning, which is probably a record for not coming out.

All in all, it was a fabulous day, with the zoo by far being the most fun. Hope your Christmas Eve and Day were great as well!