After sleeping in and lazing around the house for a bit, the guys and I went on a couple errands to grab last minute grocery store items. Our store of choice was Lucky's because we were told that you can "Sip and Stroll" there -- seriously, they have cup holders for their carts and you can get a PINT of beer for just $2-3 and a glass of wine for $3. They're more an "organic and fancy-shmancy items" type grocery store, so I stocked up on bulk (organic, dye-free) candies and craft beers to take home, and Jay picked out fancy vitamins. Alas, we got nothing else off our list, so we ended up having to go next store to the regular grocery store. It was worth it for inexpensive craft beer (as in, they had Sweet Baby Jesus, the bestest best!) at 10:00am and pajamas in public (OK, Jamie didn't wear his PJs, because he has more class than we do). Good thing Vicksburg doesn't have a Lucky's...
Our next errand was fishing for minnows for Jean's pond, which was harder than you'd think...
When we got home, we gave the kids the new scooters we got them (because they've outgrown their originals and because these ones are "so cool" and spark when you hit the brakes) and attempted a quick spin around the neighborhood (I brought my roller blades on this trip). I say attempted because we'd just given James some cough medicine for his cough and extremely runny nose, and he had a major breakdown before we were halfway around the block and we had to walk him back (because he refused to ride due to being "dehydrated and so tired and my legs HURT"). Cora stayed home with him in solidarity and they watched cartoons for a bit (after a forced nap for him failed because he just read his book the whole hour).
Eventually he was chill enough (and Cora begged enough) that we hit the beach again.
Eventually we all got out of our swimsuits and pajamas and headed to church for the early Kids Christmas Eve service. As we were heading in, each kid got to pick which character they wanted to be from the nativity story in order to participate in the sermon. Cora immediately said she was an angel and James decided to be a shepard (with his teddy bear in tow - he got it during his class Dirty Santa game at their Christmas party and is very attached to it).
They waited semi-patiently for their roles to be called. Neither was the least bit shy and walked (or ran) right onto the stage when it was their turn. James came back halfway to ask if he could take his teddy bear with him. Cora wasn't called until after James, so when they finally asked the angels to come forward she very dramatically placed her hand on her chest and squealed "Oh ME! That's me!"
We even managed a quick, unplanned and unstaged family portrait after the service, and we all agree that it's one of the best we've taken of Team Lindsay. (Cora's little stuffed animals are ones that she "won" at the Birdsong house, where we'd hung out for the while the previous day - they have a Claw Machine in their garage. Naturally, these went everywhere that teddy went for the rest of our trip.)
They both wanted their picture with Gramma and I think they turned out so cute. Cora also wanted her picture "just with Uncle Jamie". He had to be particularly tolerant of her "affection" this day... Such a good sport ;-)
After church, we went to town center to look at the giant Christmas tree and Christmas surfboards, and search for coffee and ice cream. And kill some time before it got dark enough to go visit Deck the Chairs (lifeguard chairs that are decorated by different groups around the beaches) down in Jax Beach. James LOVES a good pun, so he definitely wanted his photo taken with the toad. Both kids knew Grambot would like to see the flamingo surfboard.
(James picked Gryffindor as his house)
(and the Mad Scientist as his future career)
When we got home it was time for pajamas and relaxing before dinner, then cookie baking and decorating, and reindeer food prep. Just because you travel at Christmas doesn't mean you skip any of the traditions!
Another Christmas tradition of ours is new pajamas unwrapped on Christmas Eve (usually from Gramma, as they were again this year). Not sure how much longer we can find matching footie pajamas for both kids, so we'll just soak this up while we still can...
James received another dose of cough meds and ended up falling asleep halfway through their last Christmas Advent book, and as soon as the lights went out, so did Cora (thanks to a very busy day and plenty of late nights leading up to Christmas).
The rest of us retired to the dining room to play games and wait for the kids to reach deep sleep before playing Santa. When we checked on them around 11:00pm, I thought James had disappeared because Cora was completely on top of him (and the matching pajamas made them a blur of legs in the dark room). Poor kid was pouring sweat when I rescued him (it was another 80 degree Christmas for us again this year!)
'Twas the Night Before Christmas...
