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!

Photo Scavenger Hunt

85. Choose a month from the 26 things photography scavenger hunt archive and do the scavenger hunt

This is a really late post from the first 101 in 1001!

J and I had an evening when we were in Kelowna in June when my mom took C for about an hour so we could go to the park. J wanted to do something “fun.” She picked the alphabet for this one (May 2008). It was lots of fun searching for the right things for each letter and it was fun to see who things are different from J’s perspective!

A is for ant (can you spot it? It’s tiny)

B is for bench

C is for car

D is for dandelion

E is for emptying. J filled her boot up with pebbles and then couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t get it off. Once she tipped them out, it was no problem!

F is for fountain

G is for goal

H is for home (or hole)

I is for insect

J is for…J!

K is for kick

L is for light

M is for moss

N is for needles

O is for Oregon grape

P is for park

Q is for “Queen of the Castle”

R is for rocks

S is for shadow

T is for teeter totter

U is for uphill

V is for view

 

W is for wasp’s nest

X is for X

 

Y is for yummy Yop!

Z is for zooooooooooooooom

Jelly Invasion

9.1 Go on an 10 "adventures"

So, when you start kindergarten, on the first day you only go for an hour, just like all the other kids. But for the next five days, you go home at 11:30, not 3:00. Which meant I needed to come up with some interesting things for J to do in the afternoons. The first two days, she was exhausted, so we all stayed home and had naps and just relaxed.
Yesterday we decided we needed to get out of the house. J thought we should take Baby C on her first aquarium adventure. (Thank goodness for annual memberships!)



Baby C was quite interested in the big cylinder of jellies when you first go into the aquarium (the Jelly Invasion exhibit is on right now)



Of course, no visit is complete without some beluga viewing!



After all the jelly and beluga stimulation, Baby C conked out and J asked if we could get her favourite treat….



Ice cream of course!




J checked out this bubble…



And Baby C woke up while J was listening to the “Secret Lives of Sharks” talk…we were right next to the tank with clown fish and and blue tangs and a bunch of other stuff you’d find in Finding Nemo. Baby C thought it was the best exhibit she’d ever seen. She was so excited! It was great.

We can’t wait to go back (and take Daddy too).

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!).