we had a great evening tonight.

all of us (including baby melissa!) headed down to central at about 4.45pm. we met up with charles in front of the prince’s building, to look at the spectacular Christmas decorations outside. there is about a 60 foot tree, santa’s workshop, a nativity scene, candy canes, intricate classy decorations, lots of fantastic stuff. the grounds are immaculate..it’s a well run operation. the weather was crisp but not chilly, and the kids, sebastian in particular were very impressed with the decorations. sela kept saying ‘cismistee‘ and has successfully indoctrinated her sister to the phrase, so for the rest of the evening we kept hearing ‘cismistee‘.

we took a couple of family pictures, we had the usual people taking pictures of our kids, and it was all good. no one was too aggressive or trying to pick them up. i was able to put down my purse when i needed to be holding two kiddies at once, and i never worried that it would be stolen. hong kong is a safe city — like i needed another reason to love hong kong.

we then walked over to pacific place, where mcharles bought tickets for us all (including baby melissa) to see santa. sebastian is having an interesting time with the santa concept…he likes the idea of santa, but knows that Christmas is about Jesus. mc said he always grew up knowing that santa was a fun fairytale, but never once considered it serious. "i mean, living in the north pole? no one does that, tess. i knew that at four." but seb was happy to look at santa and didn’t mind the idea of sitting on his knee. the babies on the other hand, they DID. carys forgot about cismistees and concentrated on weeping willows. so santa suggested he stand behind the babies, out of sight, and wave to the camera. and you know, it was a great picture. maybe if we ask magnificent nicely, he will post it.

then we went out for dinner at dan ryans. sela insisted on using her fork, so it was a bit slow going and most of her food ended up on the ground, but it was a good meal, no major melt downs.

then we came home. i am happy (and somewhat surprised) to report that the Christmas panic has not hit me. there is nothing really last minute to do. this is a bit of a surprise, but it is also the truth. possibly because the friends we are having over for dinner on the 26th are people we have had Christmas with two years in a row, and we are pretty easy going and compatible on how Christmas dinners should run. steph definitely makes the superior stuffing, so she is in charge of that, but i am providing homemade pies, the turkey (easy), gravy, peas, offering wine, rice krispie squares, peanut butter cookies and ice cream. remind me though, i do need to get whipped cream for the pie. no worries there. sebastian is loving all the baking, and has helped me make several batches of biscuits, etc.

it’s a nice way to feel, just a few days before Christmas!

xoxoxo