The Peak of Christmas

9.2 Go on an 10 "adventures"

On Saturday, we packed up the car, picked up J’s best bud from daycare, R, and made our way to Grouse Mountain (because the advent calendar said so…) We took the gondola up to the absolutely freezing Christmas fun. We had been four years ago, but of course J couldn’t remember it at all.

The girls had a blast rolling down this hill covered in about six inches of hard packed snow. There were reindeer just up the hill from here, but they were not interested in the least…we found out later from Santa himself that Rudolph was our practising and he was the only reindeer they were interested in anyway.

We ate diner at the restaurant with an amazing view of the lower mainland (yes, it was a very early dinner since it’s dark by about 4 these days!)

R was super excited to have her picture taken as a snowman, but J wasn’t sure…

J took this picture of C (who I was wearing) and she looks even less impressed than J!

The highlight of the night for the big girls was skating. They were out there for over an hour and it was COLD…

C doesn’t look impressed here…likely because we have her stuffed into her most hated snow suit and she has a hat on..

Much happier with Daddy! Or maybe she realized the hat was keeping her warm ;)

Merry Christmas!

Fingerprint art

 

So, I follow a blog that I can’t read…I can’t read it because it’s in Norwegian and I follow it because I came across it somewhere (I can’t remember exactly where or when – Facebook? email? Google search?) and it’s written by Helene who I met years ago in Finland at a WAGGGS/WOSM seminar. Hi Helene! There are pretty pictures and I do read it when I have time using Google’s translate tool. Anyway, on her blog, she posted a little craft she did with her boys and as I was getting the advent calendar ready for J at the time, I bookmarked it.

J had an awesome time making cards for her teachers using ink pads and finger prints.

We got brown, red and green ink pads and she had a great time deciding what she was going to create.

We ended up with (clockwise from the top left) Rudolph, three elves, a stocking, a tree with a J drawn star at the top, Santa (he’s the one with ears) holding hands with two elves, and some holly. We’ll definitely use this idea again…I could see the wheels turning in J’s head and then she starting telling me all the other fun stuff she could do if she had other colours.

Thanks Helene!

Four hugs a day and Santa too

So things got a little hectic around here in December, but I thought I’d get caught up a bit even though it’s already January. Before Christmas, J and I went up to the City Square Shopping Centre and took in a little Charlotte Diamond before visiting with Santa Claus (we went last year too).

We had a great time singing along with Charlotte Diamond – J knew a bunch of her songs from her music classes at daycare. After the concert we hung around and waiting for a bit and then, the jolly old elf himself came riding down the escalator.

J waited patiently in line and ended up being the third child to visit with Santa. She was so excited to see him (he was the same Santa as last year – this year she didn’t check his beard to make sure it was real!)

There were some problems with the equipment, so J had to wait patiently with Santa to have her picture taken. I think she talked to him for almost ten minutes.

In the end, we didn’t get a photo (thank goodness I had my camera with me), but J had a nice visit. She said that even though they had a long chat, Santa forgot to ask her what she wanted. It’s a good thing she had written him a letter earlier – he must have received it because on Christmas morning there was an umbrella and an alarm clock in her stocking.

Greetings Gone

11. Mail Christmas cards before December 24th

I definitely didn't get my cards mailed before December 24 last year or the year before, but this year, somehow, I did! Yay!

I had them all done before the end of the second week of December and more than half went out on November 30. J was feeling a bit under the weather the last weekend of November and when she wasn't sleeping or cuddled up on the couch watching TV or reading, she just wanted to sit at the table and make crafts. And that was the perfect time for me to sit and write cards.

She had a great time helping me too - she was the chief sticker applier.

And now that the cards are gone, I have more time to bake and clean the house and pick out gifts.

Making things

Today the advent calendar suggested we make some kind of craft. I had planned to make paper chains with J, but she came home from daycare the other day and got some of her coloured paper out and asked me to cut it into strips and get her some glue or tape…seems they learned to make chains at daycare…

So on Thursday afternoon I visited the craft store for some inspiration…I was going to get her some picture frames to decorate for her grandparents, but then I found these paper maché decorations. Auntie Rebar gave J paints for her birthday last year, so we were all set.

J loves painting and wishes she could paint every single day…(little aside – we were checking out real estate listings and found a place that was in a neighbourhood we liked, with the right number of bedrooms and a price that didn’t make us gag too much and it had a roughed in suite in the basement. All that had been installed was a sink and a small counter…I was so excited because it would be the perfect craft spot for J. That’s when we noticed it didn’t have the right number of bedrooms on the top floor…)

Once the creatively painted ornaments were dry, we got out the glitter glue. I haven’t quite figured out the glitter glue hate on Facebook among our friends with kids the same age as J…I much prefer it to regular glitter because it stays put…

J had a great time decorating with her glitter glue…the ornaments are drying now so that tomorrow she can decorate the backs with glue (watercolour paint dries MUCH faster than glitter glue!!)

The finished products – some for our tree and some for gifts.  We might head back to the craft store and get a few more – J thinks her teachers might like to have one!

Choo Choo Ho Ho Ho

Yesterday J looked in her advent calendar and discovered that we were going to for a ride on the Christmas train at Stanley Park. We've been almost every year since J was a baby - I think the only year we didn't go was 2010 because the weather was horrid. In 2009 we didn't actually ride the train, but we did visit the lights. Last year apparently I only took one creepy picture.

This year we were smart. We bundled J into her snowsuit even though it was relatively warm. Last year she was not happy about half way through the train ride because she got cold from sitting still for so long. This year she wanted to go around a second time!

We went early this year to avoid the big crowds (is there a pattern here? Claustrophobia in crowds seems to be a symptom of this pregnancy...) We were able to walk right up to the ticket window and straight onto the train (tip - if you want to save almost $4 per ticket, get your tickets at the ticket window and not at t!cketm@ster)

We've really been enjoying having so much time together - Alex's silly shift means we don't get too see him a lot...look at those happy faces!

here we go

J loved the lights - there were lots of gasps and exclamations of "WOW!" and "Look!"

J wished the train would stop here so that she could watch longer. This Rudolph on stilts was dancing to a Christmas version of YMCA. I have to agree with J, it was pretty amazing!

It's hard to see in this picture, but in the middle of the pond is a moose with lights in its antlers. There is also a little building with a Christmas tree on top of it. J was intrigued by these things in the middle of the pond! She wasn't so sure about the train going over the water though.

Rudolph crossing (hard to see the red nose...)

After we got off the train, we wandered through the light display the firefighters set up. We stopped here for a bit of carolling.

Winter Wonderland

One confused pole - is it north or south? There are polar bears and penguins here!

Alex and J also decided they'd try out their grace and coordination skills as dancers in the Nutcracker. (Hmmm...maybe next year we'll take J to the Nutcracker...)

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night

We have really enjoyed the train and the lights every year we've gone, but I think this year was the the best by far - the light displays were amazing!

Skipping school

Today the advent calendar told J that she got to stay home from school (aka daycare) and that we were all going to go to the Vancouver Christmas Market to ride the carousel. J is not a fan of skipping school. She complains endlessly that she misses her friends and usually when we finish whatever it was that kept her home, she immediately starts demanding we take her to her daycare for the rest of the day. Today, no complaints! (Alex and I both had the day off work)

So, off we went to the Vancouver Christmas Market. This is the third year for the market, but we've never been before.

We had planned all along to go for a ride on the carousel - that was the main draw for us. Yesterday at the Santa Claus Parade, J got a ticket for the carousel, so it worked out perfectly!

J and Alex waited by the entrance to the carousel for their turn.

Looks like they're having a great time.

Hi Mom! (Not sure who Alex is looking at...)

Bye Mom!

I didn't go on the carousel with them - I was a bit surprised at how fast it was (J and Alex were fine) and my stomach has been a bit queasy, so I was the official photographer. Because we chose a Monday morning to go, there were very people at the market and only one other child on the carousel when J went.

After the carousel ride, we did a little exploring - J was fascinated by the fountain tree and its decorations.

Empty on a Monday morning

Alex and J as Santa and the Honeybee

And then, because carousel riding and window stall shopping and decoration inspecting are such hard work, it was time for a little snack. J wanted a sausage - it was super tasty.

Alex and I shared spaetzle with cheese and ham. YUMMMMMMMMMMM...it was soooo good! I was always excited when there was spaetzle for dinner when I was in Switzerland. Occasionally when I worked in the private sector, we would have birthday lunches at The William Tell restaurant (it has since closed...boo) and, no matter what I ordered, I'd make sure there was spaetzle to go with it! I haven't seen it too often in Vancouver...I should probably learn how to make it, because I love it! Alex thought it was delicious too.

Just before we left, J discovered this sleigh. She wanted her picture taken, but she wasn't thrilled that the seat was damp...

Apparently J loved the carousel and her sausage, but she is still insisting that she shouldn't have had a home day...I'm sure that when she's actually in school, that will change (and likely we won't be keeping her home from school to go the Christmas market!).

Santa came to town!

Today was the day...Santa Claus parade day. We took J for the first time when she was 2 1/2 and we took her again last year. She's been talking about the parade since some time in September, so we knew we pretty much had to go again this year.

We woke up to disgusting rain that turned to sun and then back to rain. It was grey, but not raining when we left the house and miraculously the rain held off until after we got home again.

Our preferred spot is at the very end of the parade route - the last block is best. We got there just as the parade was starting at the other end of town and had our pick of sidewalk spaces.

We packed a fleece blanket backed with waterproof backing to sit on and at the last minute I threw in a second fleece blanket and I'm glad I did. It was a bit of a cold wait for J - we were dressed for the rain, but the wind was blowing so she stayed cozy cuddled next to us, wrapped in a double layer of blanket. Of course, once the parade started she was nice and warm from jumping up and down and dancing around.

J got a foam Rudolph nose that she decided worked better on Daddy (her nose is a tad bit small for it now...maybe next Christmas it will stay on!)

J liked the miniature horses, but she thought they were super stinky (they didn't really smell bad, just like wet horse)

This is J's favourite "float" and it has been every year since we started going to the parade. We actually saw this bus on the street the other day - it was stopped at the bus stop and we got to walk by it, which was soooooo exciting! Maybe one day we'll get to ride on it...who knows!

And the man we were all there to see - St. Nicholas! J was pretty excited to see him; she wants to be his elf one year though. She was a bit upset that she didn't get to talk to him today. But she will have that chance before Christmas for sure!