What a fantastic Christmas day! Ryan and I agreed this was one of our favorites. The girls begged to go to bed early on Christmas Eve. They wanted to share the guest room and watch tv for a bit so we agreed; we finally let them go down about 7, and they didn't make a peep for the rest of the evening. We finished getting everything ready upstairs and then headed to bed ourselves.
The girls woke up at 7:15 on Christmas morning, and they were anxious to come upstairs. We put the cinnamon rolls in and told them to come up. They were very excited to see what had been set out for them. They were both thrilled with what they saw which made us so happy too! They looked and played for a few minutes before we took a quick break to eat breakfast.
After breakfast we moved on to stockings which was lots of fun. The girls loved their new knit hats!
After stockings, we moved on to opening our gifts. The girls started by exchanging the gifts they had purchased for one another. Lily loved receiving Beados as she's been wanting to try those for awhile, and Mia was excited about her Lego Friends archery set; it reminded her of taking archery at camp. I loved that the girls had spent their own money and had been so thoughtful about buying for one another. After that we all opened the gifts sent down by Grandpops and Grandma Jan. Both girls were ecstatic to see their top wish list items! Mia received three different Lion Guard playsets, and Lily received three Lego sets to complete her amusement park.
I actually didn't take any more pictures during gift opening time because I just wanted to enjoy the time with my family and see the joy on the kids' faces as they opened each gift. They truly seemed thrilled with them and took time to examine, open and thank us for each one. Once all our gifts were opened, Ryan and I "remembered" there was one more gift for the two of them. We handed them a puzzle piece with a clue on the back. This started a 13 clue scavenger hunt around the house as they collected puzzle pieces. When they collected them all, they put the pieces together but two pieces were missing. Ryan gleefully put down the last two bottom right pieces where they could see our family's gift...a cruise to Alaska next summer! There were lots of laughs and "are you serious?!" from this. We cannot wait!!!
Though I didn't take pictures while they opened them, I've tried to snap some pictures of the girls enjoying their gifts over the last few days. Here are some of the things they were most excited about.
Mia loves all things Harry Potter, so she is thrilled with her new blanket. Lily asked for Legos, More Legos and As Many Legos As I Can Have this year, so she was very happy to put together many new sets!
Lily putting together her new snow globe kit.
Both girls opened up a "bag of books" to enjoy. Five of Lily's are continuations of series she is enjoying, and one of them (Sideway Stories from Wayside School) was a favorite of mine growing up that I hope she'll like. She also had two books sitting out on the couch this morning. One was a Brain Games book because she loves that tv show; the other will teach her the Greek Alphabet. She loves languages, and when she saw this book advertised in the back of her school Latin book, she started talking nonstop about it.
Mia was very happy to receive the next four Magic Tree House book; she absolutely loves this series. She also received two new Never Girl books though one of them is a journal. She loves Ronald Dahl so we thought she would enjoy Matilda, and she also received The Mouse and the Motorcycle which was another book I loved growing up. Lastly, she received a National Geographic Rocks and Minerals book to go with the rock tumbler she had sitting out this morning.
Mia had fun with her new loom. While most people would think it would make a potholder, she was happy to make a blanket for Glowie!
The whole family has had fun playing Battleship that Mia received and Spot It! Finding Dory edition that Lily received. We always love playing games together.
Both girls received a Harry Potter Sorting bath bomb in their stocking. They couldn't wait to take baths to see what Hogwarts house they would be sorted in to. The anticipation built as the bomb dissolved, and it was revealed Mia would go to Gryffindor while Lily would be a Ravenclaw!
After enjoying lunch on the back porch (it was a beautiful day!), and resting up a little bit, the girls were very excited to make tie-dye t-shirts. Lily had received a kit from her cousin Cooper, and they had been begging to do this for several days; it seemed like a good time. They had a blast, and the shirts turned out looking good!
It was a truly wonderful Christmas day!
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