I haven't posted in a few days, over Christmas. We've had a very fun and busy weekend.

On Christmas Day, we had a quiet day here at home. I went to see an old family friend who needed some help, and the girls hung out here and played in the house. It was a rainy day, which washed away much of the snow. In the evening, we went to Grampy and Nana's for Christmas. It was a very fun night – Anni, Jonathan, Liz, Sarah and Rachel were here. The girls had a lot of people to play with. They got some wonderful gifts – a lovely dollhouse with great furniture (including a TV, aquarium and fireplace!), two started needlepoint kits, 2 nutcrackers, 2 aprons and some cooking supplies. Great haul! We had a lot of fun.

Saturday, the girls had a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. They had a lot of fun there too – games and pizza and a show. What's not to like, when you're 5? That was the first time I had ever been to Chuck E. Cheese's. I could maybe see going back sometime. Maybe.

After Chuck E. Cheese's, the girls came home. Tuvana stopped over and gave the girls some great presents – Trouble board game and a sticker book and a coloring book. We have played many games of Trouble ever since. Then it was over to Grandma Sandy's for dinner with some relatives visiting from Chicago. Yummy food and the girls performed a duet:

Late night, though!

Today, we had a late morning visit from Jonathan, Sarah and Rachel on their way out of town. The girls showed Sarah and Rachel lots of things in their room, and put on a puppet show for them. We were sad to see them go.

This afternoon, I took the girls to meet Aliya, Anil and Tuvana at Brookside Gardens. Highlights were the greenhouse and miniature train collection, and running around on the lawn with Aliya and Anil. It was good to get out of the house! I took some photos but my camera battery died, so I haven't uploaded them yet.

After Brookside the girls and I went to Starbucks for hot chocolate and rice crispy treat. Then we headed home, had a yummy chili dinner, and now Daddy is reading the girls from Ramona the Pest.

We have a lot of fun activities planned this week… dentist (well, not that fun) tomorrow, swimming at Wilson pool, a trip to Philly on Wednesday, haircuts on Thursday, and lots of other things in between. Daddy and I are going to try to see a few movies if we can. We're very behind.

Some funny things:

• When the girls sat down to do a duet, M said, "We're going to do a coincidence!"
• Last night at dinner, one of the guests asked M what the most memorable thing was that happened in Paris. She said, "When I hit my head." He asked how it had happened. She sighed, and said, "Long story!"
• It was cute listening to the girls chat with Aidan on the way out to Chuck E. Cheese. He was talking a lot about Harry Potter and Transformers, which the girls haven't seen yet. M hasn't wanted to see Princess and the Frog, because she's worried it will be scary. Aidan said he had seen it, and M said, "Is it scary?" Aidan said, "Well, it's not that scary, but there are a lot of pretty scary parts." Sigh. A REALLY wants to see it, so I think one of us will take her this week without M.

Here are some pictures from Grandma Sandy's visit to Pat's house last Thursday with the girls, some taken by the girls: