Friends Michelle and Bradford had their birthday party at the Aquarium restaurant at Opry Mills. What was really cool was the stingray tank that the kids got to play with afterwards. Of course, they were all scared of the stingrays, but it was really neat to see them come right up to us and to be able to feed them.

It was fun to be able to do Christmas morning at Grandma’s house. Of course, we made a total mess and she’ll be at least a little relieved to see us go later today:

First, Rudolph apparently showed up with new PJs for the kids. They were very excited and surprised:

After the kids went to bed we set some things up for Christmas. Fortunately the kids are beyond the age where they need presents all assembled before they come down on Christmas morning (I hear that’s a lot of extra late-night work for Santa).

It wouldn’t be a trip to Cincinnati without a visit to see the famous Bucky and the people that live in the house with him. The kids even got a few early Christmas presents.

We won’t be able to go to Aunt Bab’s Christmas dinner this year, but we did get a chance to see Amanda and “her twins” today. Everyone had a good time (especially the kids, who all were wild)

We’re in Cincinnati at Monkey Grandma’s house and got a chance to get outside and visit the park today:

We hadn’t seen him for a couple of years, but our lizard friend reappeared today. Doesn’t he look happy to see us?

Lauren’s coaches managed to get a team picture today of Lauren’s indoor soccer team.

The city did its luminaria tonight, and despite the forecast for rain it was actually a great evening for it. I was able to take lots of pictures, but they don’t do justice to just how cool things looked:

It’s time again for the annual Christmas Card Picture. Having done a “beach” theme for the past two years, we decided to go back to a more traditional picture with the kids dressed up and in front of the tree. Look for yours in the mail soon: