Christmas festivities

Today we did all our major Christmas activities.  Our first stop was at the Nordstrom Santa.  Usually there's a multi hour long line but we got there real early and got to see the big man in just a few minutes.  Evan was very excited.  He had written a list and had been reading it before bed for at least a week.  He told Santa what he wanted.  It was real cute.  Alexis, on the other hand, was not amused at a big, strange man in a red suit.

Here's Evan with some one-on-one time with Santa.

Next we headed over to a hotel that hosts a bunch of ginger bread houses in its lobby for charity.  Local architecture firms contribute and they're always stunning.  We got someone to snap a few rare all-family picture for us.

On the way out, Alexis decided she wanted to walk a bit with Jill.  Here they are heading down the hall.

Next we went to another hotel that has a fantastically decorated lobby and a teddy bear suite.  Here are Evan and Alexis making themselves at home under one of the trees.

They were auctioning off pre-decorated trees in the lobby.  Here's Evan, Alexis and Jill by one of them.

On to the main attraction - the bears.  The hotel decorates a suite all Christmas-y and puts in tons and tons of bears.  Here's Evan with the big bear.

After Alexis saw him there she needed a turn too.

And so did Jill.  Evan brought over a book and they read while Alexis crawled around fuzzing all the different smaller bears.

We headed to one last hotel to take a look at more trees for auction.  They also had a bunch of crafts for Evan to do.  Here he is making his Rudolph candy cane.

And here he is with his finished products.

We covered a lot today but we weren't rushed at all and had a fantastic time.  The holidays are officially here.