The day after Adam's party and the PWMOMC party we decided to go to Cox Farms to get our Christmas tree.  Santa wasn't there so Paige and Virginia decided to sit in his chair


Our tree turned out beautiful and we look forward to their being gifts under it.

The weekend after Thanksgiving was a busy one for us.  We started the weekend with a trip to MoBu Kids in Falls Church for Adam's 2nd birthday party.  Paige and Virginia had a great time playing, especially with Kendall and Tessie, and Ben and I enjoyed seeing friends.  Oh, and Ben finally got to meet Lincoln.  It only took 9 months!

After Adam's party we headed home for some rest before going to my Moms of Multiples Club's holiday party.  Daddy sat out this party and stayed home to get some stuff done around there.  The party started with an open gym for the kids to play.  Virginia and Paige enjoyed playing a little basketball.
After playing some organized games all of the children got stickers and bracelets.  Virginia and Paige were very excited about their bracelets.
After open gym it was time for a pizza dinner and then Santa came for a visit!  Paige and Virginia were so excited to see him.  They both sat on his lap with no issue and Paige actually even told him what she wanted for Christmas- a Barbie doll.
Then it was time to go home and go to bed.  We were all tired after a long day of partying!

The day after Thanksgiving was Dee's 60th birthday.  We couldn't spend that day with her since we were in Tennessee so on our way home on Saturday we stopped at Dee and Dude's house to celebrate Dee's birthday.

We started by Skyping with Todd, Sandra and Keats in Alaska.  Virginia and Paige had a great tim being silly for Keats.
Then we gave Dee her birthday cards and gifts.

Paige and Virginia couldn't resist helping Dee open her presents.
One of the gifts we got her was a canvas print of a picture of her three grandchildren.
Back at the end of the summer Todd and I started a mission for Dee's 60th birthday.  We contacted people that have known her over the years and asked them to send us memories of Dee.  It took a few months, but we managed to collect more than 60 memories and cards for her!  She was very touched by the gift and all the people who contributed to it.  It may have made her tear up a little. :)
Some people, including my grandparents, also sent pictures of Dee from when she was younger.  Paige and Virginia had a great time looking through those with her.
After gifts we headed to the Flint Hill Public House for dinner.  It was delicious.  Then it was time for us to finally head home.  It was a great day and I'm so glad we got to celebrate with Dee.  Happy 60th birthday Dee!

The day after Thanksgiving we decided to drive down to Gatlinburg and go to the aquarium.  We'd been warned that we might hit a lot of traffic, but we actually made it there pretty quickly.  The aquarium was really neat and we had a lot of fun there.  I think we were all really glad we made the trip down there.

We went through the shark tank which was really cool.  They put you on a moving sidewalk and you go very slowly by and under a huge tank with lots of fish and sharks.  When we finished that we went to a presentation about penguins where we learned some fun facts about penguins.  Did you know that only 3 species of penguin live in the cold?  Most penguins live in warm weather.  Then we ate lunch and headed over to see the penguins.

At the penguin tank there was one penguin, Eddie, who immediately took to Virginia and Paige and kept swimming right by them.  In this picture Eddie is the penguin right in front of Paige.  He kept diving down right there and coming to the glass right in front of them.
There's even a penguin viewing area outside.  We walked out there but all of the penguins were inside.  Well, all of them except for this guy who Virginia and Paige just loved.  Paige had to give him a big hug and then didn't want to leave him.
The penguin tank had a tunnel you could crawl through and a viewing area where you could pop your head up in the middle of the tank.  Of course, Virginia and Paige wouldn't crawl through by themselves so I had to crawl through with them.
And we popped up in the middle.  I don't remember for sure, but that might be Eddie right in front of us.  I know he came over while we were in the viewing area.
There was also a tunnel and a viewing bubble in one of the smaller shark tanks.  Here's Paige under a shark!
And Paige and Virginia under a different shark.
Paige and Virginia with Santa's reindeer outside the aquarium when we finally made it out after our trip through the gift shop.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel for a little rest before dinner at Uncle Bob's and Aunt Beth's house.  Both girls slept a little bit on the drive back, but not a whole lot.  I think Virginia fell asleep for about 10 minutes before she woke up coughing and couldn't get back to sleep.

We tried to rest when we got back to the hotel, but we ended up just playing and tickling Paige!
At Uncle Bob and Aunt Beth's house Paige and Virginia disappeared with their cousins pretty much immediately.  When they came back down Caleigh had dressed them up for a fashion show. 

Virginia ready for her fashion show- with her two babies in the stroller.
And Paige ready for the fashion show.  Don't you just love her hair?!
We had a delicious dinner at Uncle Bob and Aunt Beth's house and had a great time hanging out with all of the cousins (except Elizabeth who was with her cousins on the other side of the family).  We're so glad we were able to go down to Tennessee for Thanksgiving and spend time with everyone.

We got back to the hotel with two very tired little girls.  This is how they slept in their bed at the hotel that night.
The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and then got in the car to head for home, or really for Dee and Dude's house to celebrate Dee's birthday.

The day before Thanksgiving we drove to Tennessee.  Normally we drive down that day and meet Mimi and Pops at the hotel.  Unfortunately, though, Mimi and Pops were at home because Mimi was sick.  We got to the hotel and with no one there to help entertain the girls we realized quickly that we needed to get out and do something.  I used an app on my phone and found a playground nearby so we headed over there.  It wasn't the best playground in the world, but it worked well for us because there was plenty of space for the girls to run around and burn off some energy.

After the playground we made a quick stop at Target and then picked up dinner at Wendy's and ate in the breakfast room at the hotel.  Then we headed for bed so we could get plenty of rest before our busy Thanksgiving Day.

We started Thanksgiving by doing a race/walk in downtown Knoxville.  Paige and Virginia (and Mommy and Daddy) ran in the Little Gobbler race and did a great job!  Then they walked in the 2 mile walk with Daddy while Mommy did the 8k run.  Everyone did great and it was a wonderful day to start Thanksgiving.  After the race we headed back to the hotel for a little while to get some rest and all get bathed.  Then we headed over to Ali and John's for Thanksgiving lunch.

We barely saw the girls while we were at Ali and John's house because they were off playing with their cousins the whole time.  We were blessed again this year with beautiful weather so the kids spent the day playing outside.  Since they were so entertained by their cousins I didn't get many pictures from Thanksgiving.  Oops.

Ben and I had a wonderful time hanging out with the adults while Paige and Virginia were having loads of fun with their cousins.  When we finally left Ali and John's house we stopped and picked up dinner to take back to the hotel where we ate in the breakfast room again while we watched some of the Redskins/Cowboys' game.  Then it was time to settle down and get some sleep.