Christmas on the Potomac - ICE!!!

We decided to spoil ourselves a bit and spend a day/night with great friends celebrating Christmas at the Potomac at the new Gaylord National hotel on the National harbor. It was beautiful! Everything was decorated for Christmas, with music playing everywhere. And the kids loved the peeps scavenger hunt! GIANT Peeps were hidden throughout the hotel. Totally not something you would expect at Christmas...but fun nonetheless!

Of course, Caden was in his glory when we ate at the National Pastime sports bar/grill and just HAD to have his picture taken with Babe Ruth. Maybe one of the current day great baseball players could help subsidize the cost of the PB&J's here!!! It was $7 for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Extra for fries. Ha ha! But seeing Caden in there was priceless...and worth every penny. The next stop of the day was to the Ice Skating rink. This was all of the boys first time out there on the ice...and they were so excited. Here is Caden, JayJay, and Cavin looking out at the rink.
Skate are on...here we go!!!

There wasn't a lot of people there, so the boys really got a chance to try out their skills!

And while Cavin spent a lot of time holding on to the sides (see in in the back in the red coat) Caden was a pro and was all over the ice! He even spent a while skating with one of the workers learning some tips and tricks about being on the ice.

Say Cheese! Session time is almost over!

And of course, a family picture before it was all over! Only another year or so and we should have Jacie out there with us.

One of the main reasons we went to Christmas on the Potomac was to see the ICE show. They had brought in over 20 million pounds of ice and carved them into a giant winter wonderland. It was amazing!!! Here is Chris and the boys posing on the entry bridge! I think a stroller ramp would have been a bit slippery so Jacie and I just took the walkway down below.

Caden and JayJay climbed right into the horse drawn carriage. Good thing there were cushions on the seat.

Posing with the penguins. This was Caden's favorite part since he is in the Penguins class at school. I thought they were adorable.

Cavin's turn to walk like a penguin...

The giant Toy Soldier

And the rest of the toys...behind every real toy was two exact ice replicas of it. The whole workshop was really cute...elves and all.This giant nativity was just beautiful. My camera definitely could not capture it...but the detail was remarkable!And of course, the highlight of the ICE show...the 20 foot long Ice Slide.

First Cavin... Then Caden...

And then it was daddy's turn! Notice how he was FLYING compared the other two? Apparently if you flip your parka up a little, the inside liner is super slippery on the ice. Chris landed about where I was with the camera. Sooo much fun!

Then it was time for some pizza in the lobby and watching the lighting of the 60ft tall glass Christmas tree! There was Christmas music blasting and even snow falling inside the hotel. Then we finished up the night with a swim in the hotel pool, with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation playing on the bigscreen overhead.

We had such a good time...this might become an annual tradition!!! Thanks Kristin, Joe, JayJay, and Quentin for helping us make some great memories!!!