Christmas Cheer in London

Christmas in London has been extra festive this year, since we've really made an effort to get out and do things.  We started it all off with a visit to St. Martin-in-the-Fields for Family Christmas carols at the beginning of the month.  The London Concert Choir led us all in some traditional favorites and also sang a bunch without the audience.  It was really beautiful and the girls surprised us by making it through the whole thing (well, Millie and Jim had to go take a little walk about half way through, but Evie powered through to the end).

Festive girls in their matching red dresses, pre-concert:

 Millie and Jim waiting for the tube:

 And a family picture on the tube (with Evie picking her teeth and Millie looking less than thrilled):

 St Martin-in-the Field is a historic London landmark, just off Trafalgar Square, so it was exciting to go to a concert there! 

 Waiting for the concert to start:

 The London Concert Choir.  They were amazing and their (very young looking) choirmaster was very entertaining. I couldn't believe he had been leading the choir for over 15 years! 

 After the concert, we wandered into Trafalgar Square and hung out underneath the Olympic countdown clock.  I think it's fair to say that Jim is READY! Only problem is that we didn't get any tickets, but we will be going to the Paralympics, so we'll get see the Olympic park in action eventually!

 Happy happy next to a giant tree and the fountains in Trafalgar Square:

 Our next exciting Christmas themed event was a trip out of London to get our Christmas tree. Since we have a car now, our options are limitless and a quick 45 minute drive to Amersham and Chesham was all it took to visit a Christmas tree farm.  Evie picked out the perfect tree for us and after a brief standoff with another family (were they going to take it or weren't they?  We stood there and waited until they wandered off and then pounced on it) we purchased it and put it on top of our car, just like the Griswalds! 

Our perfect tree!

 But the most exciting part, really, were the mechanical elves, who greeted us in the beginning.  Evie would have much rather stood there watching them the entire time.

 Back at home, Evie decided she 'just didn't like her jeans' and there was much rejoicing around the Christmas tree:

I spent all day talking about how lame it was that Dad always made us wait until the tree had settled into it's stand before we could decorate and then we did the same thing to poor Evie, who was so excited to decorate. But by the time we got back, it was just too late in the day, so the decorating had to wait until the next day.  And when it finally happened there was much rejoicing:

The girls were very involved in decorating:

 It's not easy anymore to hold Evie up to put our tacky pink bird on top of the tree:

 Some people were more excited about the stockings than others:

And Jim was excited about the candy canes!

Millie's friends joined us for some baby Christmas celebrations under the tree.  They all traded books and Millie was a gracious hostess: 

 And on the day of Evie's school Christmas party, it snowed a little!

 Evie and her friends at school had been practicing their carols for weeks...

but when we got there, Evie wouldn't get out of my lap or sing.  But I sang!  And I think Jim sang, too.

 We also danced:

 And there was a visit from a very unconvincing Father Christmas, who didn't even say Ho Ho Ho and was slightly emaciated as far as Santa goes.  But the kids didn't seem to mind and were very excited to receive the dry erase boards that he gave them.  Evie came home and immediately graffited our couch with her dry erase pen. It now has several "E's" on it.  I reminded her that Santa was still watching after that stunt!

 And finally, the day we had all been waiting for! A visit to a slightly more authentic Santa Claus at Selfridges.  We weren't supposed to be taking pictures, but we snuck a couple of the girls in the ice fairy's cave leading up to Santa.  They also got to throw snowballs at Jack Frost and finally we got in to see Santa with a group of children.  Last year we took a train around a couple of times and then went into Santa's House (without other kids), which we thought was nicer. But last year, Evie was scared of Santa and Millie was so little she didn't care.  This year, Evie LOVED Santa and Millie was terrified (and, thus, not pictured).  Some year, they'll both love Santa and we can get a happy picture of them on Santa's lap!

 After Santa, we headed back out into Selfridges to enjoy the decorations and some brunch.

 But I think that the highlight of the whole day for Evie was this. She said she wanted one for Christmas (I told her not to hold her breath):

 The decorations outside of Selfridges:

Millie, the Christmas fairy, was happiest when we got back home again (but I can't get this picture to turn the right way, so you'll have to enjoy her sideways):

It's been a fun Christmas already and we still have Christmas to get through!