Merifield, VA (USA)

[up very early (0500) - it was VERY cold - I ate breakfast in the lobby and picked up food for the kids, who stayed in bed for a lot longer... - drove my car over to pick up drycleaning and get an oil change - when I arrived back at the hotel, I hung out with the kids again for a few hours - went swimming with Mollie before lunch - tried to pick up Chick-fil-A for lunch (long drive) but the line was huge - headed back towards the hotel and checked out the mall across the street (adjacent to US-29) - messy parking lot but interesting (for warmer weather, perhaps) - found an Arby's and picked up "equivalent" lunch - back in the room, the kids powered through one more stretch of homework and I took care of blog, finances and website business - around 1645, we headed over to St. Thomas Cathedral for Mass - we arrived early (my fault) but we waited inside and enjoyed the pretty Christmas atmosphere - the young priest had fun splashing us with holy water and then gave a good homily - the kids were happy - on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a huge Giant (supermarket) and picked up some groceries for taco night - back at our hotel, we cooked in the room - it was fun to make dinner with them - we then ate together and talked for hours before cleaning up - the girls went to check out the gym but came right back - we had hot chocolate and watched the movie "Gravity" - stayed up later than the night before but still dozed off before the kids (2300)...]