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Christmas Eve at Midnight

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I opened a bag of worms this Christmas, and I have a feeling that it is going to become a Christmas tradition:  we went shopping at midnight on Christmas Eve.  This isn't the midnight between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, because as everyone knows, that's when Santa comes.  This is the midnight between Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve.

I had just a few last minute things to get (mostly food), and I didn't want to fight the crowds at the grocery store on Christmas Eve.  So, I told everyone that I was going to go shopping at 4 a.m., and would Johannah like to come with me?  John rolled his eyes which basically communicated to me that he thought I was crazy.  Glo was sad to not be invited, and Ethan just looked at me with disbelief.  The plan was set.

It was Sunday evening, and with no new episode of The Walking Dead (horrors!), we pulled out a game.  When we finally finished it at 11:45 p.m., John turned to all of us and said, "We should go shopping now."  Done!

We piled in the car at which point Glo informed us that she was hungry.  No problem--we can stop at McDonald's!  No, we can't, it's Sunday!  Not at midnight :-)  We arrived at Mickey D's at 11:57, and waited the three minutes in the parking lot before we pulled into the drive-thru.  By the time we waited for our smoothies to be blended, it was 12:02 and legal time to spend money again.  (Of course, I couldn't resist the no homework on Sunday lecture, and relayed, once again, John's story from medical school about waking up at midnight Sunday night/Monday morning to begin studying.)

Oh man, Wal-Mart didn't know what struck them!  The main rule I had was that nobody could change out of what they were wearing--spontaneity was the standard!

Ethan has been wearing his Santa hat non-stop through the season.  It was already on his head while playing games!  Don't you love the pajamas?

It was a beautiful thing--not a SOUL in Wal-Mart!  The store was OURS!  After getting what we needed, and several things we didn't, we headed to the toy section.  Not sure why, but this will become the biggest tradition of the night--riding kiddie bikes around Wal-Mart (with the extra bonus of wearing kiddie backpacks at the same time)!

Like John's "Angry Birds" backpack?
  I'm not sure we've ever laughed so hard in our lives.
Can you even SEE Hannah's bike?  It was micro sized!
  Ethan was a bit worried that the security guards would come after us, but I wondered if they would even be able to catch us on our speedy bikes!


Like I said, I have a feeling that this will become an annual tradition:  smoothies from McDonald's at midnight with a Wal-Mart chaser :-)

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