Christmas Eve in the tropics

I must say, I wasn't too sure how the international buffet would be at the Orchard Hotel, but it turned out to be a nice experience...a different experience for Christmas Eve. The hotel itself was completely decked out with Christmas decorations and the buffet was enormous!

Here is the buffet.....

Although you can't see it too well, it was overloaded with food! All different types of seafood, chicken, lamb, duck, soups, Chinese food, a spread of desserts including a chocolate fountain, a salad bar and a lot of other things I'm missing.

Here are a couple pictures of the life size gingerbread house and nut crackers in the hotel lobby.....

Juliana enjoyed the meal and tried some new foods as well!! I had to catch this picture with the fancy napkin on her head. The gorgeous dress and shoes were a gift from my mom for the holiday. Juliana looked absolutely adorable!

Like father, like daughter....they're going up for more food!!!

After she was done, Juliana was exhausted from all that eating, so she passed out for a little bit.....

When we were all done, we wanted to check out the hotel. Each floor had a different Christmas Eve buffet. This tree doesn't look like much in the picture, but it was absolutely gorgeous in person.

And Juliana with here Nana!!

So, it was quite a differently holiday experience than we're used to, but we all had a wonderful time. The food was good, the wine was phenomenal and Juliana enjoyed having her Nana around to spend the holiday with. We already came to the realization (years ago) that it's nearly impossible to try and keep up with all of the same traditions year after year, no matter how hard you try. This experience helped us realized that it's okay to try something new and break away from what you're used to. Of course, we miss our family and friends back home, but we had a wonderful time with just the four of us too. You have to make the most of what you have and that's what we did!!

God bless everyone on this very Merry Christmas!!!