Christmas Recap

Here's a little recap of what I can remember from Christmas. Even though the fancy internet let me backdate my post, I am actually writing about Christmas in Mid June.  You know, like summer. yeah.  summer.

Anyway, we couldn't skip magical Christmas Tree Lane in Alameda. It was much different and required more planning living in El Sobrante.  Before, we could just put on our jackets and walk a few blocks.  It was totally worth the drive to visit again. 

 Easton knows the best place to enjoy a Christmas cookie is wrapped up in Daddy's sweater in the baby carrier.

 Gabriela brought Santa a note.  She was not convinced that this was the "real" Santa and decided, all on her own, that Santa must have some helpers since he is extra super busy just a few days before Christmas.

 We got a giant 9 or 10 foot tree since we have high vaulted ceilings.  It only took about 3,000 lights to light up this bad boy. Lane gets all the credit for spending an entire evening meticulously wrapping the lights in and out of each tree branch to get this magical look.

 Here is Gabriela with her note for Santa.

 Just a few days before Christmas, she lost her first tooth ever.  She was so excited! Thank goodness we finished our tooth fairy bag in time!

 We enjoyed many cozy Christmas time fires in our fireplace.

The kids enjoying some Christmas goodies while Daddy read them The Polar Express.  This book has an extra special place in my heart since Gabriela could recite this entire book to us, word for word, when she was only two years old. And we totally figured it out by chance one night that she could do it.

 Some of our paper snowflakes.  We were originally supposed to do one special Christmas activity every day leading up to Christmas. Unfortunately, we got super sick, all of us.  Fevers, achiness, coughs. It was really bad. We laid in bed and napped for a week. Thank goodness the kids were sick too, so we could all rest. But this didn't stop Gabriela from reminding me constantly that we were missing our Christmas activities.

 Here are Santa's cookies next to his reindeer food.  Gabriela's friend, Lucy, invited us over to make reindeer food out of carob chips, flax seed, oats, dried cranberries, and of course, lots and lots of glitter!

 We finally were able to make Christmas cookies after recovering from our two week long miserable colds.  It felt so good to get back in the Christmas spirit!

 Sometimes I get labeled as the overachiever in the family, but please take a look at Lane's snowman cookie.  He carefully selected the right colored sprinkles to craft that masterpiece of a snowman's face.

 We attempted to get some family shots of us in front of the Christmas tree.  It wasn't too successful.

 And, don't tell Santa, but after lots of requests to hug Jovie, our Christmas elf, we told the kids they could hug her on her last night before she returned to the North Pole.

 And then it was Christmas morning!  I don't know how Santa managed to fill those stockings so full!

 To say that Easton enjoyed his monster candy cane is a huge understatement.

 We couldn't believe that Santa would give so much candy to a little two year old, and didn't complain when Easton kept dropping his candy cane, causing it to break into little pieces and end up in the garbage.

 Gabriela was happy to receive her Clementine books!

 And here she is, opening those pixie dolls, that she requested from Santa. He totally came through for her!

 Lane really wanted to build Gabriela a fairy house for Christmas. He spent a lot of time looking up ideas and then settled on buying a kit so they could make the fairy house together. They spent the next two days working on that fairy house together all day long.

 Easton enjoyed some Christmas cookies for breakfast. yum yum.

Christmas in the Park

Just before Christmas we headed over to San Jose to experience Christmas in the Park with Uncle Matthew and Auntie Banu.  They live so close that we just walked there!

Gabriela was very serious about getting her chance to see Santa.  We were the first ones in line.

 She carefully explained to him that she wanted a pixie set for Christmas.

 Easton didn't think Santa could be trusted so he barely got close enough for a high five. Of course, Santa immediately became trustworthy when he offered Easton a candy cane. 

 The kids got hot cocoa and churros. Let me tell you, there were no complaints!

They went on the merry go round, rode the train, enjoyed their tasty snacks and admired all the beautiful Christmas trees.  We had some really nice visit time with Uncle Matthew and Auntie Banu. They even convinced us to stay overnight for an impromtu sleepover.

Everyone had a wonderful visit!

Homeschool Fieldtrip

A couple weeks ago we went on a field trip with one of our homeschool groups to this working farm called Sienna Ranch.  The kids had loads of fun, meeting and learning about the animals.  They got to meet some ponies and pet them.  Then they brushed and played with the goats.

 We visited the sheep, heard a story about how sheep's wool became a farmer's coat and then the kids had a chance to card their own wool and spin it into a bracelet.

 We then went to the bunny house where we learned that this bunny, named Peter likes to be swaddled.  She feels safer all cozy in the blankie. 

 They had a chance to hold the bunny, and my favorite was when Easton got to hold the bunny.  She twitched her little nose right onto Easton and he sweetly and gently cuddled that bunny rabbit.  He was in love.

 At the chicken coop, the kids gathered eggs from the nests and then learned about the roosters and hens. Then they got to go inside the coop and catch the chickens.

Harvest Festival at the East Bay Waldorf School

So in October, Lane's parents joined us at the East Bay Waldorf School's Harvest Festival.  The school is just down the street from us in El Sobrante.  It's a little ironic, because I used to drive so far to bring Gabriela to this school for a parent child class when she was only two years old. Now we are down the street, at least we are enjoying their family fun days.

The Harvest Festival was a wonderful experience. I am so happy we went.  There were carnival-type games for the kids, but in true Waldorf style, all the games were handmade and the prizes were too.  Sweet little needle felted baby chicks and porcupines made out of tiny pine cones.  I wanted to play the games so I could get some prizes!

 

 Grandpa pushed Easton on the swing , which he loved.

 The kids used apple corers to peel and core their own apples, then sprinkled them with cinnamon for a tasty healthy treat.

 Grandpa and Easton did the cake walk.  Unfortunately, they didn't win. But we went to a classroom that had been transformed into a little dessert shop with people playing their fiddles.

 We grabbed some lunch there - it was all homemade organic deliciousness.  But then there were the vendors and the fairyhouses.  Oh my!  The fairy houses were my favorite!

 We stopped at the petting zoo and the kids thought it was hilarious to put the chickens on top of the donkey.  I mean, who wouldn't??  We ran into some of Gabriela's homeschool buddies there. She was pretty excited.

There was also autumn crafts, a pumpkin patch, carriage rides, so many things that we didn't get to.  I can't wait to go back next year!