Lakes Family FUN Blog: 25 Days of Christmas: Days 18 thru 24

18. Caroling

We went caroling with our babysitting co-op for the second year in a row. It was MUCH warmer this year than it was last year which made the whole thing a lot more enjoyable for the kids!

We got the kids bundled up (unnecessarily) but this scarf wrapped around Riley was the cutest thing ever! Finn would have nothing of the scarf, so Todd gave it a try….and then Riley tried to run away with it….

The Gang’s All Here!

Me, making this look easy…..

And Finn got a little crazy at the end and just started doing summersaults up and down the hill and singing “blah blah blah blah blah” instead of the words. It was super pleasant.

19. Annual Holiday Dinner

We had our annual holiday dinner with our friends. Such good friends, great conversation and amazing food!

Unfortunately we had alot of the above and food and we’re split between two tables and people started leaving before we got our group photo. :( So there are 7 people missing from this picture.

20. Spread Holiday Cheer

Again this year we went to the local police and fire stations to take them treats, sing them songs, say thanks and check out their awesome equipment! We went to two fire stations this year because one of them is currently under construction and one of the fire fighter was momma to a boy in our group!

Finn had been dying to sing “Hark the Herald, Angels Sing”, the song he sang in the church Christmas pageant….given that I barely know the words, I knew that no other children knew, but by the time we got to the last place he was REALLY wanting to sing it. One other momma sang along with him, but he belted that song out loud all by himself! He got a huge applause, and mommas heart practically burst with pride.

Riley was a little shy at first, so he was hiding behind me.

Then we went out to the garage and checked out the fire trucks!

He pulled out the jaws of life and showed us how they worked! Scared the pants off of Riley though!

21. Ride The Pink Pig

We met up with some friends to ride The Pink Pig and had SO much FUN!

Posing while we wait

Pig Eating Dino….

And now we ride! How cute are all four of them riding in the caboose together?

Kellen’s 1st Ride! I love how he is holding on to the seat belt!

We got THE CUTEST picture of everyone with Priscilla!

Proudly displaying his sticker!

The boys hanging our new Pink Pig ornament!

22. Pajama Cookie Decorating

We headed over to decorate some cookies in our pajamas with our friends. Riley just wanted to play at first and was not at all interested in decorating cookies, but he came around eventually. It was definitely a lot less messier than last year!

Finn and D playing spies, sneaking up on us, slithering across the floor. Hysterical!

23. Minivan Express

Another amazing internet find has become a new Lakes Family tradition…..I printed out tickets to give to the boys for a ride on the Minivan Express, a tour of Christmas lights! We ended up going out to dinner that night, so we decided to have the waitress deliver the tickets to the boys at the end of the meal. I brought along my hole punch to punch the tickets for entry and away we went! It was magical and the boys absolutely loved it! Finn said he wanted to save the tickets and get them punched every year until he was 22.

24. Christmas Eve: Rudolph at Center for Puppetry Arts and goodies for Santa and his reindeer

We went to see Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at the Center for Puppetry Arts this year. We had tried to get tickets last year but missed the window (they sell out FAST!), but were able to get tickets this year! And I am SO glad we did, it is by far the best puppet show we’ve seen there. Adorable!

After church service and dinner, we put out cookies and hot cocoa for Santa, and water and carrots for the reindeer. Riley had also brought home a special bag of “reindeer food” which had oats and glitter in it to sprinkle in our front yard to help Santa and his reindeer find our house.