Christmas Joys

Christmas has come and gone and I'm actually a little sad to put away the ole tree for another year! Kalissa is old enough to know what is going on and it was a joy to see her innocence and love for Christmas grow. We started the season out with our tradition of supporting Toys for Tots. We gave 5 toys (one from each of us) to children in need. She doesn't really understand that concept yet, but I'm sure by next year she will get it. She already loves to give presents to people! We gave a bottle of wine to each administrator at her school and for her main teacher, she gave a sterling silver pendant that had "teacher" and an apple engraved on it. Kalissa couldn't get enough of singing Christmas carols. She would sing Jingle Bells to anyone who would listen and she especially loved to sing "Up on the Housetop". We Wish You a Merry Christmas was also in heavy rotation. On Christmas Eve, we attended church and Kali had fun dancing in the aisles and playing in the "snow" that was falling during the musical performances.

Christmas morning rolled around and she woke up to presents under the tree. We kept them hidden with a blanket so that she wouldn't get impatient waiting for Oma to arrive. Once she got there, we let her see her gifts and she was thrilled. By the time she finished unwrapping everything she was completely overwhelmed.

Since it was 74 degrees out, we decided to go to....Sea World!! It was warm enough outside for her to play in the snow one last time before the exhibit leaves. We checked out a few sea creatures and then headed over to the Sesame Play area so she could see her favorite furry creature, Elmo. Low and behold, there was NO LINE to take a photo with him and bonus...Cookie Monster was with him! Score for Kali on Christmas Day! We've been going to Sea World regularly for almost a year now and Kali has never been able to talk to Elmo. Either the line is too long or we just missed the meet-n-greet session. But not today! When Elmo and Cookie Monster came over to her, she just started talking to them like they were long lost buds! She said Happy Birthday to Elmo and I explained that she thought it was his birthday today so then he really played up to her. The characters were spending so much time with her that a staff member had to say, "Okay, Elmo and Cookie Monster...we have other kids in line!" *lol* Kalissa was on Cloud 9!! She couldn't stop talking about how Elmo tickled her cheeks.

After that, we took in an animal show that featured dogs & cats from the local animal shelter along with parrots, pigs, ducks, kangaroos, and ostriches. Oma was completely amazed that they managed to train so many cats to do so many tricks. I was amazed by the kangaroos! After the show, we stayed to meet the animals. Kali wanted absolutely nothing to do with the pig! *lol* In addition to these animals, Kali got up close and personal with a bearded dragon when we first got to the park. She is a brave little girl!!

We had a wonderful Christmas together and by the end of the day, Kalissa was completely tuckered out! A very Merry Christmas...and to all a good nite!