What I did on my Christmas Vacation

I didn't mean to, but I took some time off of blogging during my kids Christmas vacation.  I enjoyed being away for a bit and wanted to share with you some of the things we did.
On Christmas eve we headed up into the mountains with some friends to spend some time having a snow day.  The best part was tailgating after a long morning of sledding. 

We celebrated Christmas eve evening with a wonderful church service followed by a drive around one of the local neighborhoods that is filled with lights.  Everyone else had the same idea too...it was more crowded than I had ever seen it!

That evening we were visited by Santa

While Sophie the pup slept soundly nearby.

The kids did such a great job this year of staying focused on the true meaning of Christmas.  Our youngest son (age 6) started selling some of his drawings and pictures for a quarter a piece to earn money to buy presents for his brother and sister.  This is his thank you hug from his sister after receiving her hand picked very thoughtful gift from her brother (not quite sure what's going on with his PJ choice!).

My parents and younger brother braved the cold, left their high 70 degree days in Arizona and headed North to spend a week with us.  They arrived on Christmas evening and to quote my sweet Owen "Nana and Papaw coming is like another Christmas present!"

Isabella received money from Nana and Papaw knowing we would be heading the very next day for our first ever visit to American Girl in Seattle.

Isabella brought along one of her five American Girl dolls to spend the day with us (don't worry, not a single one of the dolls was bought at retail price...I'm lucky enough to find them at garage sales!).  She purchased a new outfit for her doll with her money.  Holy cow those things are pricey!  

 We had reservations at the American Girl cafe for lunch and got to spend some time just us girls.

We even ordered dessert, something we rarely do!

 Bella's doll Ali had a little taste too!

My brother Ben, was reminded by Owen, how very awesome Legos are. They spent a fair amount of time putting together some of Owen's Christmas presents.

We played lots of board games.  

The dream team (made up of my brother and husband) was a scrabble team to be reckoned with!

We attempted a trip to the Space Needle, but fog held us off.  Instead we played a family game of laser tag.

We also hit the indoor putt putt golf place 

and went bowling

The kids and Nana spent some time relaxing and reading.

It was a great break, but we look forward to getting back into a routine for 2012.  What did you do during break?