Christmas Activities, Part 3

We have been busy, busy this month!!!

On Dec 15th, I took Abby to see "The Nutcracker" for the first time. We went with two other mommy friends and their daughters :) We had great seats - 2nd row! - and I really enjoyed it. I'll be honest though, Abby said she was bored during some of it! Ha! I thought she would love it - because she's really gotten good at ballet this year and has been enjoying it so much. Oh well, I tried!

 One of my good friends, Courtney, was in The Nutcracker, as well as her daughter Cayler Ann. We waited for them afterwards, to congratulate them on a job well done!

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 Then, on Dec. 17th (while everyone else was still in school but not us!), we went to see Santa at the mall. There was NO line (Praise the Lord!) and Santa enjoyed the kids' letters.....Abby said she was 99.5% sure she had been good this year and wanted "inexpensive" things like pull-apart erasers and squishies. Nate asked for all electronics and iTunes cards, of course.

 They mailed their letters to the North Pole and then we headed to their favorite part - the train!

*Disclaimed: I am not too confident that they still believe in Santa. But as long as they go along with it and want to go visit him, we will do it!*

 It cracks me up that year after year, they still want to ride this little train that does a few laps around the center of the mall! Nate got his fave seat, in the first car so he could ring the bell. Greg joined in this year and the kids thought that was hilarious! I still can't believe he fit in that little car. And then Abby was all excited to have a car at the back to herself, when at the last moment, a little girl jumped in with her. As you can see, she was NOT pleased.

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On Dec. 19th, we tried something new this year.....we travelled to Birmingham to watch a movie at the historic Alabama Theatre. That place is so gorgeous!!

The kids wanted to sit up top, in the mezzanine section, so we did. Then, the stage floor opened up and up came the organ (Big Bertha) as well as the organist/host. We had a Christmas sing-a-long and then it was time for the movie to start.

 Greg got snacks for the kids and adult beverages (!) and then we settled in to watch "A Christmas Story." The kids had never seen it, and thought it was hilarious.

 We explored the theatre after the movie was over, and it was breathtaking!! Abby wanted to sit in every fancy chair & couch she saw.....even the ones in the waiting room of the bathroom :)

 We walked around and explored downtown Birmingham a bit before dinner. We found Railroad Park and considered ice skating but just took a walk instead. 

 We had an early dinner at Pizitz Food Hall, which was so fun! It had about 15 different food vendors, plus a bar and lots of fun couches/tables. We all ate from different vendors, and then headed north of Birmingham to see some Christmas lights at Shadrack's Christmas Wonderland. It was a drive-through thing, where we drove around the Birmingham Race Track and looked at lots of Christmas lights put to music. It was great! 

It was a great family day, and the start of a new tradition I hope (well, at least the movie part)!