A Washington Christmas

Yesterday we bundled up the little ones and headed into the city! Our first stop was the Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax. They have giant "Polar Express" themed snow globes on display, one so big you can walk inside! And since we have a little kid who is completely enthralled when it comes to trains, we thought he just might like the whole thing!



Shelli and Lige and their two little munchkins met up with us at the mall. By then we were waiting in line for Santa to come back from his lunch break. The mall had all of the snow globes set up so you would pass each one as you progressed in the line toward Santa. The highlight for the kiddies was the "Engine Room", a small room built to look like the engine of the Polar Express. It was complete with steering and valve wheels, a brake lever, and a pull rope for the whistle!


The very next stop in the line was the biggest snow globe of all! When we walked into it we were even greeted with falling snow! This globe was the North Pole. Next stop, Santa!



When we walked out of the snow globe Santa was sitting right in front of us. Max was so excited he just wanted to run right up to him! He did his best to wait 'till the kids in front of us were finished and then it was our turn! Isla sat on Santa's lap, Max stood grinning in front, with a happy Liam sitting on the seat next to him. Remy, on Santa's other knee, broke out into tears! Isla seemed as if she didn't know what to think, and when she saw Remy crying, she decided it looked like a good idea and let out a little cry herself!

It was hysterical to see one sad little girl, another little girl not quite sure what to do, and two little boys who were completely happy to be there with Santa!


After the mall we headed over to Arlington National Cemetery to see the holiday wreaths decorating the headstones. It was an awesome sight to see. I truly am grateful to live in a free country and for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of that freedom.


It was pretty cold by now so we kept the kids bundled up. Isla stayed cozy and warm in the stroller, and of course Max and Liam had fun running around!


After Arlington we drove across the river and into our Nation's Capital. We found a place to park and walked over to the White House where we saw the National Christmas tree. The tree was surrounded by much smaller trees, decorated for every state and territory. It was fun to walk around and see all the different trees. The highlight however, were the trains that circled the National Tree. Max loved watching them go around the tracks. His favorite, of course, was the Thomas the Tank Engine that was there. We were able to find a spot right in front where he could watch it go around and around. We stayed 'till it was starting to get dark, and Max wasn't one bit happy when we decided to leave. He would have stayed there and watched those trains all night if we let him!

It was a lot of fun going in to the city to experience a little bit of Christmas in our new home. We look forward to making this a tradition for many years to come!