Skating

Mike took the girls skating and they loved it! So much that they asked to go back the next day.  There is a great free rink overlooking the lake in downtown burlington, with a park, hot chocolate, washrooms....really convenient.  Apparently they did great.  Starting them later probably helped with balance.  

Post Christmas tons of fun

Paige playing a coding game from uncle Greg. 

New Roots onesie.

Enjoying some board game time.

I really miss the girls.  I am bummed out that they went back to school.  Our days over christmas break were always full of fun and quality time.  The first day they went back was so cold that henry and i came straight home and just played inside.  It felt really quiet!!!

Christmas Afternoon/Evening

Oh germs.  The girls had to be careful not to get too close to anyone as they were sick.  They were certainly happy to get the Shopkins black box that they had asked for.  

Once again we forgot to take a family christmas photo!! Paige started to melt down after dinner.  I think she woke up around 4 something.  She was walking around after dinner in a daze and was saying "my head feels fuzzy".  I think she had never felt so tired in her life.  (Part of me felt like it was payback for when she was a baby and i felt like that constantly.)

Always sad for Christmas to come to an end--but going to bed on Christmas night is exciting knowing that the day will be easy with all of the new toys, leftovers, and no pressure to do anything!

Christmas Morning!

We had a super fun Christmas morning (despite the fact that people kept waking up all night long and we barely slept).  We managed to hold off going downstairs until just before 7 I think.  The girls woke up and we made them lie in our bed for a bit until we felt awake enough to face the day.  

Santa had great stockings for the kids this year which included Beanie Boos for the girls and a huge dump truck for henry.  

After we had our usual french toast breakfast we opened the rest of our gifts.  The girls got shopkins and skates as their main presents and Henry got a paw patroller and a few cars and pups to go with it. I enjoyed using my new running shoes to go for a run with Scout in the great weather.  Everyone loved playing with their toys all day until it was time to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner.  

Christmas Eve

 With both girls sick we had to cancel our usual Christmas Eve plans of doing a family activity and lunch at a pub.  Rose had a fever and cough and Paige had a cold.  Instead we took advantage of the super warm weather (i think 15 degrees), and took Scout to the dog park.  Although people were sick, fresh air was bound to help. The kids weren't too happy at the dog park as it ended up being very windy, but at least we got out of the house.  In the afternoon we rested up, did some reading, checked out the Santa Tracker, tried to get Rose to nap, and eventually watched "Polar Express" before dinner.  We had our usual perogies with bacon, which we eat once a year.

After dinner the kids went outside to scatter the reindeer food from school and preschool.  

 I had a hard time getting great Christmas photos as the girls were tired from their illnesses.
People did well though and despite the fact that they were obscenely excited they were able to fall asleep quickly.

Pre Christmas...

We were fortunate enough to have amazingly warm temperatures this year before Christmas.  Kids could go outside, and even play on the swingset.  

Here are the girls riding their bikes to the park. 

Ella trying not to fall off the doorframe.  She fell off our plant one day so I scooped her up with 2 candy canes under her arms and she was ok.

Oh to be a kid--reading Harry Potter all day without a care in the world.

Annual Cookie decorating/pyjama party

Every year I hold a cookie decorating party for the kids and Amy, Clara, and Joseph.  New to join us this year was Rose's friend Claire! This event always makes Christmas feel like it is finally happening! Every year the cookies look a little bit better and the kids are better at saving them.  

Christmas Concert fun!

Oh the gear up until Christmas! Concerts at both schools and an open house at the preschool.  Lots of running back and forth to the various events, and lots of time off work by Mike.  So nice he could be there for everything. 

Rose's class.  Numerous children were coughing to the point of embarrassment.  All of the parents were there and I'm sure every last one of them was thinking "why did you send your kid to school like this before christmas??!!" (I really thought that later when Rose caught this extreme kindergarten cough and had a fever all of Christmas Eve). 

 At Henry's preschool.  They went through their regular routine and we followed them around.  There are only 5 kids in Henry's class.  He doesn't seem to play with them yet, but he finds lots of stuff to do, and there is craft time and lots of story time, etc.

Paige all dressed up for her concert.  Next year she'll be in the evening concert.  

Santa visit

This year we saw Santa at the RBG.  The same place we went for the pumpkin walk at halloween.  They have a big train show which Henry loved, and then we waited for a super long time and got on a train to take us to Santa's cabin.  The train ride was seriously short--about a 3 minute walk from the building.  We waited for about 25 minutes for the train.  But it was totally worth it as Henry LOVED it.  

We then waited about 50 minutes or so to see Santa.  Luckily it was warm outside.  Everything was fine until we actually went up to see him and Henry became way too scared to go up at all.  No chance of a photo without being an evil parent.  It was ok, so much nicer to see Santa somewhere other than the mall!