december 21st

Sunday morning we got up... had breakfast at the hotel and then went back to my mom and dad's room to have our Christmas gift exchange. The kids loved their stuff (Jeff and I did too)... Alex got a huge Lego kit that he finally finished putting together today and Clara got some American Girl stuff (matching nightgowns for her and Kit and a violin).

After the gifts were open, we braved the cold (3 degrees F temps with windchill around -10) to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. With it being so cold and the last weekend before Christmas we practically had the place to ourselves!

It is an amazing museum... we loved everything about it.

Photography was only allowed in the gallery and the play area.

Here are the kids with the Lincoln family...
A young Abraham Lincoln...
The White House....
The Christmas Tree in the gallery....
The play area was called Mrs. Lincoln's Attic.

Clara loved playing with the Lincoln home doll house...
She also loved the rag dolls of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln (she really wanted the Mary Todd Lincoln doll)...
They also had dress up stuff... here's Honest Abe... I mean Alex.... :-)
I think we spent over four hours there!!! After that it was back to the hotel to swim! My pics from the hotel pool aren't the greatest... I'll have to see if I have anything worth posting later!

Dinner time!