Merry Everything!

Another action-packed week; this Christmas stuff is awesome.

We checked out "ZooLights" for the first time and LOVED it. The national zoo stays open late during the month of December and has a ton of lit animal shapes - very cool. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. And if you don't live in the DC area, I'd like to once again, thank you for your tax dollars that make all the stuff in our town free.

Next was my buddy Dru's birthday. She had it at the Hidden Oak Nature Center and we got to see lots of cools stuff like live turtles, snakes, and a giant lizard (but the guy who worked there kept correcting us saying it was a fancy dragon name - it looked like a lizard).

We saw a stuffed fox, climbed an indoor tree house, and compared stuff like leaves and butterfly wings under a microscope. Dru and I just needed white lab coats to look "official."

Then it was off to four parties in one day - whew. Let me just say, our friends know how to throw parties. One house had more than 20 desserts displayed on the table. Oddly, they were just high enough that I couldn't reach a single one without asking for help - hmm, I'm sure that was an oversight. Another house had decorated an entire twelve foot Christmas tree with blown glass elephant ornaments - yes, they're Republicans. It looked really cool. They had kids' crafts - I made an ornament and a wreath, they had treats, and they had lots of fun people. The day was slam-packed with fun.

We topped off our week with a caroling party. My dad absolutely LOVES to sing Christmas carols. The odd thing is that he doesn't know all of the words to a single Christmas song, and really isn't too worried about learning them. But what he lacks in skill he makes up for in spirit. He sings the loudest and does lots of wild motions with his arms as he sings. He definitely has the most fun. So every year my mom invites friends over to go caroling and every year she prays people show up - because with or without a crowd, my dad will head out to knock on doors and sing his heart out - he's the best. We had a great group this year. My buddy Jackson and I were in charge of the bells. We stood in the front with our Santa hats on and shook the bells while everyone else sang. We did add an occassional "Hey!" once in a while.

I have been practicing my Christmas songs. A few of my favorite lines that I sing completely out of context in the middle of conversation are, "You better not cry. You better not pout. He sees you when you're sleepin. To town!" and "Santa baby!" Oh, and jingle bells," check this out...