Holiday Adventures

Dan and the girls got the entire week off for Thanksgiving Break. They relaxed at home most of the week, although they did have to go to school a few times so Dan could meet contractors who were doing work while the campus was empty.  

During the break, Dan took them to our brand-new Virginia Beach Lego Store to buy Lego sets! They spent the entire day building.

Hallie chose a 3-in-1 set that created a bunny, a bird, or a seal.

Emma chose a Lego Friends snow retreat set that had several fun scenes to build.

Both girls have been helping me in the church nursery once a month. The 2- and 3-year-olds LOVE having big girls to play with!

These two girls wanted Emma to read to them the entire hour!

And Hallie had little kids crawling all over her, wanting to play with her.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day feast with the Jesters at Robin and Rob's house. The next day, we visited Busch Gardens Christmas Town with them. 

We arrived at Busch Gardens as soon as they opened to avoid the crowds. We walked right onto our first ride of the day, but the park got crowded later when it was lit up with Christmas lights.

These girls are definitely counting down the days until Christmas!

A Christmas Town photo of our family with Robin's family. Dan's parents also joined us a little bit later in the day. We rode rides, watched shows, and enjoyed the beautiful lights and decorations.

A sweet picture of the girls before Naomi and Miriam had to leave.

Dan went to one final Busch Gardens Christmas show with his parents, and I took the girls to the Sesame Street play area for old times' sake. We rode the tiny rides and it was so cute...until they revealed the dark secret hidden within the toddler play area. 

For all these years, I thought this was just a fun tunnel for kids to play in and climb on. But that night, the girls pointed out the eyes painted on it and explained that I had been watching them climb in and out of Oscar the Grouch's pet worm, Slimy's, mouth. 

And if that wasn't gross enough, they showed me the "play tunnel" at the opposite end, which is Slimy's rear end. That's just sick.

Now, let's close our eyes and erase that from our memories ... 

Anyway, after Thanksgiving break, Emma's class had a field trip to the Mariner's Museum and Fort Monroe. 

Both 5th grade classes, their teachers, and the parents who attended.

I drove one of the school's 15-passenger vans for the field trip, and I'm happy to report that I delivered everyone safely. It took me three attempts to parallel park this big guy, though!

The 5th grade teachers did an excellent job of applying what the students saw to what they were learning in class.

We watched a dramatic movie about the Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia.

The museum had a full-scale replica of the ship that won that battle - the USS Monitor.

There was a ship modelmaker working at the museum that day, who answered lots of questions from the students.

Next, the 5th graders took a quick self-guided tour of Fort Monroe.

Some of them were jailed for their crimes.

I loved going on field trips with my girls!

On December 1st, we joined our parents at Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Dan's birthday. So delicious!

The next day, we celebrated Dan again with the extended family. Unfortunately, Emma came down with a fever and a very painful ear infection later on. Poor kid. 

 

This is the last time I'll get liquid antibiotics for Emma. She had to drink a ridiculous amount of the stuff twice a day, plus Children's Tylenol and Motrin to cut the pain.  It's time for our 10-year-old to swallow pills!

With a lot of pain meds in her system, she was able to push through and join the Jester family's visit to Salem Baptist Church's Bethlehem Walk near Richmond, VA. 

We were so glad all the cousins could come, because since the event was free, it was PACKED! We waited for over 2 hours in a tent for our tour to begin.  At least the kids could entertain each other during the wait.

Once our tour started, it was fantastic! We walked to about 10 different scenes with actors and singers who re-created the events of Jesus' birth.

We met the shepherds and heard the angels sing about Jesus being born.

Then we saw the Wise Men who traveled to meet the newborn king.

We walked through an awesome replica of the town of Bethlehem, full of live animals in stalls, townspeople making and selling their wares, and Roman soldiers yelling at everyone. The soldiers even yelled at our kids, because they know trouble when they see it. 

After a long walk, we discovered Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in the stable.

And heard Anna and Simeon rejoice at the temple.

After Jesus' birth story, the church jumped ahead in the story to tell about the cross and Jesus' empty tomb.

The church and its members did an amazing job sharing the gospel! 

We spent the night at Dan's parents' house that night, and Dan and I were supposed to run the Busch Gardens Christmas Town 8K the next morning. But Emma's ear infection and fever had flared up again and she felt too sick for us to leave her with Dan's parents as we had planned. So, we skipped the Busch Gardens race this year and let the girls sleep in and rest.

That evening, the youngest 6 Jesters were invited to ride on the Grove Christian Outreach's float during the Williamsburg Christmas parade!  Although Emma's ears still didn't feel great, she didn't want to miss out on the fun, so we pumped her full of Tylenol again and she had a great time with her cousins on the float.

The Jester family cheering section 

The float's theme was "Llama, Llama Christmas Pajamas," so the kids wore their cozy PJs and the girls even had llama hats, compliments of Aunt Robin. When we saw them pass by us, they looked like they were having the time of their lives!

Emma had to stay home from school for two days because of her ear pain, but thankfully she recovered just in time for Stonebridge School's Christmas concert. We loved this performance - especially a couple of the main performers!

Hallie sang a solo during her class' song.

And Emma was part of the Parade Brigade that played a major role in the drama. Both girls did a phenomenal job!

Hallie was invited to a couple of classmates' parties in December.

One of the birthday parties had an amazing face painting artist!

 I organized a ladies' holiday brunch at my office. We have a potluck and white elephant gift exchange every December, and it's always so fun!

I also spearheaded an office toy drive for Toys for Tots.  My Senior Vice Presidents posed as Santa and an elf for a photo.

On the last day of school before Christmas break, the girls had class parties.

Emma decorated a gingerbread house, had hot cocoa, and played a gift swap game.

Hallie decorated lots of sugar cookies and had a gift exchange with her classmates.

As soon as school was out for Christmas break, our family took a day trip with our parents to the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC. 

Everyone squeezed into our minivan for the road trip to DC.

Cute photo at the Virginia rest stop!

The Museum of the Bible had many exhibits about the Bible and its impact on American history.  They also focused on Scripture's influence in the world's culture and arts. The biggest highlight was the museum's replica of the Israeli town of Nazareth!

Hallie's pretending to weave outside her shop.

Emma is dancing in the tabernacle. I'm not sure that's allowed. 

There was a woman in a Nazareth home who answered questions about the food and culture during biblical times. 

After we toured the town of Nazareth, we went through the Bible story walk-through experience.  We followed a path with vivid scenes from famous Bible stories.

We walked through the Red Sea that Moses parted when the Israelites were escaping slavery in Egypt.

The 12 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel that were gathered when they crossed the Jordan River after the battle of Jericho.

The girls' favorite room in the museum was the kids' play area!  They have games, a small playground structure, and educational exhibits for young children.

Both girls tested their Sampson-like strength.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day trip with our parents!