Vivian also had several singing performances. She did an opera piece with her voice teacher for a special Christmas concert at a local restaurant and got to wear her green velvet dress again.
At school, she and one of the other students from her rock band class performed a song both before the concert and during it, a slightly more casual vibe.
Elena had some local Christmas fun too. She and I went to the embassy Christmas celebration. They had all kinds of inflatables and games, and for some reason, a person handing out free churros. I'm not complaining or anything, and we've since learned that he shows up for all the holidays, which I accept as a new holiday tradition.
They also had a very nice "Christmas dinner" in the cafeteria, which we enjoyed.
Elena got her picture taken with Santa and a camel. The camel seemed particularly interested in her.
I had bought gingerbread house kits at Target, and Vivi invited over one of her friends to help put them together.
They had a lot of fun,
but the gummy bears and the bright red icing proved to be too much of a temptation.
Once school ended in December, we flew back to Virginia through Istanbul. We've found a cafe we like that's a bit removed from everything, and we can order some tea and sit there during layovers.
They have this fountain that Elena really likes and Vivi thinks is really weird.
I don't really care about the fountain. I'm there for the baklava.
Turkish Airlines has good kids' meals, and Elena channeled Jeff/Wolverine with her carrot sticks.
It was a long trip, but we got to my family's house to see that my aunt had made the four of us stockings to match the ones they already had. It was really sweet, and Santa thought my mom would appreciate some Empress Sissi chocolate from Vienna, even if the box didn't quite fit in her stocking.
Vivi was very glad to be able to come this time. She enjoyed the fire,
the IHOP pancakes,
and playing with her cousins.
Hanukkah and Christmas overlapped this year, so we were able to enjoy yummy food and light candles together.
Judy got the twins foam menorahs, but when they saw the big girls with fire, they knew something was up.
Christmas was a big success. There were lots of smiles,
and Vivi was even moved to tears by a guidebook.
But mostly, Christmas was about lounging around, enjoying gifts, watching Christmas movies and eating yummy food.
We did get out for a couple walks though. We took the twins to visit the neighborhood's largest inflatable display.
And at night, we enjoyed walking around the local garden's light show.
It was chilly outside, but a warm, family Christmas inside.
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