Cape Cod Christmas- Part 1!

We headed down to the Cape on Friday. When we arrived at my mother and father in-laws house, Chris's brother and his wife were already there. After the kiddos played for a bit and ate an early dinner, they went to bed and the rest of us had a leisurely evening dinner by the fireplace. Teri fixed a delicious meal and we enjoyed some wine and good conversation.

Jules and Charley even spent some time together. Poor Jules...Charley seemed a bit obsessed with her but they got along just fine!

The next morning, I decided to take Adelaide out for a bit of alone time with me. Okay, fine, I'll tell the truth. In typical me fashion, I discovered when I woke up on Christmas Eve morning that I had left all of the presents for my in-laws (including Erin and Dan) at our house on our bed. Ugh!!! It was so ridiculous and to say I was a little more than annoyed would be an understatement. It brought back memories to years ago when I left my luggage at my house when I went to visit Chris's family for the weekend.

So, I headed out to do a bit of shopping for smaller gifts so I had at least something for them on Christmas morning. I took my little lady with me and we took a break for some hot chocolate. She really is such a delight!

When we got back from our shopping, Oliver was ready and waiting to decorate some gingerbread cookies.

Oliver's cookies were very organized and Adelaide's looked like a big clump of frosting!

After the kiddos did some decorating, they ate a yummy dinner and got everything ready for Santa. They left out nine carrots for the reindeer and lots of gingerbread men.

After Oliver and Adelaide went to bed, some friends of my in-laws came over and we had a Feast of the Seven Fishes. Here is a picture of my sis-in-law Erin and me before the dinner began.

Direct quote from Chris as this picture was being taken: "See, this proves that we really do love each other!" My husband is such a romantic.

The family before dinner!

The dinner included shrimp cocktail, oysters, lobster bisque, smoked salmon, smelts, calamari, salad and pasta with clam sauce. Everything was delicious! Mike got into the festivities by wearing the Santa hat!

About six months ago, when Dan and Erin came to visit us, Dan realized I had never had his mom's homemade cannolies. After asking her for them six months ago on very short notice, she decided to surprise us with them at dinner!

They were very delicious and Dan and I finally got our cannolies!
It was a very fun evening while the children were nestled all snug in their beds!