We went off to a live nativity that a couple local churches put on every Christmas, and it was fantastic, besides being bitterly cold with a biting wind. I know, I know, I grew up in Vermont, I have gotten SO soft since living in Virginia, calling an afternoon like this cold. It was cold, but the kind of cold you can still take your one-year-old out in, and that Austin can go out in just a fleece and no hat and be fine because he's a Tough Guy, at least for a few minutes.
These churches have put together a whole little Bethlehem Village with lots of little huts where people are portraying activities that would've happened in Bethlehem at the turn of the millenium. So, there was a weapons hut where a couple little boys got to hold a replica Roman sword, some lentil soup in a marketplace, some shepherd kiddos tending their sheep, some open fires, and lots more. The biggest hit were the two camels. I have no idea what these two camels are doing in central Virginia, but they were the star of the show. One of them tried to nibble off my blue mittens, and the other one spit at Austin and Tucker and shocked the Little Man by reaching out its long head at him.
Definitely something to do again next year, but maybe on a warmer day. Heck, we live in Virginia--I think the high is supposed to be in the 50s on Christmas day. That is what I'm talking about.
