'Tis the Season

'Tis the season for holiday fun. And oh what fun did we have yesterday...

In the morning we headed out to a mall to visit Santa and do a little holiday shopping. We had our first successful Santa visit this year (after he bribed her with candy and made her laugh by saying he was going to bring her a baby rhinoceros).

Ellie asked Santa for a baby suitcase and a camera (both of which I'm sure that Santa will remember to put in the sleigh and bring to our house). Then Nick and I each took Ellie to a store to have her pick out a present for each of us. That was an adventure...

In the evening, Aunt Susie came over and we had an evening of holiday cheer. First we decorated our Christmas tree. Ellie was really helpful decorating, although her attention did wander a bit. We then found Nick's baby shoes and she was so excited to see them and put them on the tree.

Then we made and decorated some cookies, and then we had a fondue dinner (we didn't let Ellie dip into the cheese, we did it for her). And of course...fresh from the oven cookies for dessert. Ellie really surprised me with her decorating skills with the cookies. She did a really good job. And I have to say that the cookies turned out really well. Of course, the more sprikles there are on a cookie...the better they are going to be!

It was a great day and evening. Ellie is very happy that we have our tree up. And although she may not quite grasp the concept of Christmas (she was amazed that you got presents on a day other than your birthday), she does understand that Santa will come to our house and leave her toys. Ellie did ask Nick how Santa got into our house. When he explained that Santa will come down the chimney and out the fireplace, Ellie asked him, "Santa doesn't have keys??"