Did you happen to get a look at the dress that Catherine was wearing in the photos in Peter’s last post? I’ll refresh your memory:

Isn’t it sweet? My Mom sewed the dress and smocked the pinafore! But Catherine wasn’t the original recipient! Mom made the dress for me 27ish years ago. It was loaned out and hand-me-downed and both pieces managed to find their way back to Mom just in time for Catherine to fit in them this year! I spent a good part of the 26th looking through photos trying to find one of me wearing it, but the search was unsuccessful. Maybe I’ll be able to find it by the time Esme is big enough to wear it!

In other Christmases Past news: On the suggestion of a friend, I took the girls to see the Enchanted Village at Jordan’s furniture in Avon today. We were in the neighborhood shopping at Ikea and hopped next door to take a look. I hadn’t expected a line, but we ended up waiting about 30-40 minutes before we got in the door. Luckily there was a family with little kids behind us and they and Catherine became fast playmates.

The Village was just as I remembered it, having seen it at the old Jordan Marsh store in Downtown Crossing when I was in High School. The Christmas music, festive decor and *real* snow falling from the ceiling put me right back in the Christmas spirit, even if the animatronic kids and animals were kind of creepy.

The girls seemed to have a good time. Catherine studied each vignette intently and would point out one or two things to me before we’d move on. “Look, Mama! That bear has a pickle!” “I see a boy on a bicycle.” “That one is the Papa Bear because he is playing a cello.”

[There are more (not great) photos from the Enchanted Village here]