Christmas Tea At The Jefferson Hotel

On December 2, we started off the Christmas season by attending tea at the Jefferson Hotel. This is a tradition that we have had for many years. I only take the older girls  -- something the little ones look forward to being able to do one day. This year several of my girls could not attend as they were at school and my oldest daughter had a prior commitment. We accidentally made reservations on the same day as the tree lighting at the hotel. This is a pretty big deal here and the hotel is filled with people attending the ceremony and having hot chocolate with cookies. So, the tree was not lit while we were having tea and we were not allowed to walk up and down the stairs as we usually do. Part of the ceremony was to have characters dressed in Christmas themed costumes come down the stairs. So, we had to stay upstairs and not walk around the hotel. My grandson was allowed to go even though he is a boy and this is a "girls out" time for us -- but, only because he is 6 weeks old. I don't think he enjoyed it that much because he slept just about the whole time. 

Instead of a gingerbread house they displayed Santa's Sleigh  -- made from gingerbread and lots of candy. 

I am so glad that the hotel continues to put up the nativity scene every year. It is a really beautiful set. 

When we were finished and just sitting around trying to decide if we would stay for the other festivities, the girls came to clean off our table. Sarah and Caroline jumped up and started helping them clear the table and clean everything up. The girls were very nice and let them help. When they were all finished, they brought two very large cookies to Sarah and Caroline as a reward for helping -- so very nice of them. 

After the table was cleaned and we were standing around talking, my friend brought to my attention that Sarah must be tired.