With Matt working both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I have been struggling with ways to make the holiday still feel special and traditional for the girls under the circumstances. However, the weather was just too nice today to go see a movie or bake so we headed to the beach, but not before a pit stop in San Marcos to see Matt at work. We met some of his team and look forward to going back tomorrow with some Christmas goodies.
Then we were on to Carlsbad to ride scooters and walk the long path along the water (not traditional, but gorgeous anyway).
The girls love watching the surfers from here and climbing out on the rocks.
Not many braved the water, but it was the perfect day to enjoy the sun and scenery.
After our walk, we brought our cooler and blanket down to the sand. It was so nice just hanging out, listening to our music and the waves and the girls had fun creating this lovely design.
Once Matt got home from work, we carried out our traditional Christmas Eve activities. We ate dinner and took a few photos by the tree before rushing out to the last Candlelight service at church.
I love the tradition of lighting the candles at the end of the service that represent the light of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. It is what we all look forward to most and really puts us in the Christmas spirit!
The girls were still excited to get home and carry out the rest of the traditional checklist before going to bed. They each got to open one gift...
Allison loved her American Girl soccer outfit
and Taylor loved her sweater, shirt and hoodie from Aeropostale.
They finished up by sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn, putting the Santa Key on the porch and leaving cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. 
Allison went to bed with butterflies in her stomach after seeing the video Santa emailed to her. He had her whole profile (including photos) and she thinks it was Mrs. Claus' idea for him to email instead of call. You could see her sense of relief when he said she was on the "nice" list and she even left a note by the cookies that said "I got your video Santa. Love, Allison"!
