December 26th

My parents left bright and early Sunday morning.... so it was just us again.

The kids had gotten Starbucks Gift Cards from their Auntie Donna, so they decided it was a good time to use them....

They both look like they could use some coffee, don't they? :-) I think Alex had a caramel apple cider and Clara had a vanilla steamer.

Alex played on his Xbox again, and Clara went with Jeff to run errands. They ended up at Play it Again Sports to look at new skates for Clara and to get Alex's new skates sharpened.

They found a pair....
.... she brought them home and immediately shined and polished them... they look really nice! She was able to trade in her old pair as well.... we bought them there last year for $15 and sold them back for $9.90.... not too bad! They're both itching to try out their new skates now (they might just get the chance this afternoon... but we'll see).

They also stopped at Petco for dog food... plus Mango got a new collar and leash... but the collar was too small.

After lunch, we walked to the theater since Alex had a matinee and along the way, we dropped Clara off at her friend's house. I "wrangled" backstage with the kids (although... they are so easy, it's really no trouble at all)... Jeff went to buy new running shoes.

Alex also had a show that evening so the artistic director and music director had everyone over to their house for pizza and cake between shows. It was a really nice time!

We dropped the kids back off at the theater and had a nice dinner out just the two of us. While at dinner, we got the call to see if Clara could just spend the night with her friend. We went home and packed her a bag to drop off when Jeff picked up Alex. We had a nice quiet evening at home. I can't believe Christmas is over already! But it's nice to be starting to get back into a normal routine.