A very Merry-land Christmas

Christmas in Maryland is drawing to a close (since we're leaving tomorrow for Tennessee, yay!) so I thought I would share some of the fun things we've been up to for the holiday season :)

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Check out our awesome Christmas tree! And please ignore the partially painted dining room wall.

Shane's parents got to visit the first weekend in December and brought it up here for us. I kinda went crazy decorating and put every ornament ever made on there. Shane's mom went home saying she needed more ornaments for their tree. When I look at it, all I can think is "Holy Christmas that's a lot of ornaments!"

 "Maybe just one more? And another? Well we *have* to hang this one up..."

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Meanwhile, we found some wild animals running around our house one day. Seriously, haven't their owners ever heard of hair cuts? 

Before: 

Being the good people that we are, we decided to take them to the groomer. It was Sheldon's very first trip! Knowing him, that girl really earned her money that day. 

 After, and Christmassy:

I'm probably the only one who finds that funny, but let's face it, those little blank stares on their faces...all they're wondering is "where are the treats?"

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As it turns out, there are a lot of fun things to do in Baltimore around Christmas time.  Like going down to Hampden to see the Miracle on 34th Street. No, not the one where Kris Kringle goes to court for a competency hearing. This is the one with all the lights!

Miracle on 34th Street is a Baltimore tradition that has been going on since 1947. Which is actually the same year the movie came out. I'm sure that's just a coincidence. 

For one block, residents on both sides of 34th go crazy with lights, decorations, plastic Santas and more. It's probably just easier for me to show you rather than tell you. 

That's a lot of Christmas right there.

They had a parade too but it was kinda cold that day. We decided to stay home instead. 

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Shane participated in Tuba Christmas this year with the Ravens Marching Band, which was really fun. Tuba Christmas is a huge concert where the only instruments are, you guessed it, various types of tubas (yes there *is*  more than one kind). The final count of participants was somewhere in the 230s. And they play all Christmas songs! The whole crowd gets to sing along. And then they played one Hannukah song. No one knew the words to that one. 

Aww, doesn't he look adorable in his little uniform? 

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Well I think that's enough blabber, why don't you just check out this super awesome wonderful fantastic holiday video I made?

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And as a gift for all you wonderful people who have stuck it out til the end of this post, here's an early Christmas present from yours truly. You're welcome :)