Holiday fun!

We FINALLY got some snow!! What a relief. We woke up to it and it was beautiful and perfect. Then it started raining and it all melted away by lunchtime. Boo. But at least Kent got to take a spin in his new red sled and wear his snow boots and snow pants, which he's really excited about. It is NOT beginning to look like Christmas outside anymore, but we're still doing lots of holiday activities.

Last week, we participated in the town Christmas stroll: all of the streets shut down, but the businesses stay open and hand out free hot cider, hot chocolate, eggnog, cookies, candy canes, popcorn and, because we are Americans, hot dogs. There are little craft stations all along the main road, there's a magician in one building, a photo booth in another, horse drawn carriage rides, live music and caricatures to be drawn (all free), and finally, the Christmas tree lighting and marshmallows by the town hall. Oh, and Santa arrives at the wharf on a tug boat. It was a blast, but it's gotten so big that the lines are so long and the crowds so thick that it's tough to to everything. We skipped Santa's arrival and went to the photo booth, but the lens was off so our pictures were 100% blurry. Boo. Then we ate goodies and bumped into lots of friends, one of whom was my choir director. Kent took one look at him, pointed and shouted "Conductor, conductor!! With a BATON!!" I couldn't believe he recognized him, but I shouldn't be surprised at this point given his obsession with music and orchestras.

Then we saw the Grinch and Kent was mesmerized. He couldn't stop looking for him everywhere we went.

We got Kent's caricature done, but it doesn't look like him. Isn't that always the case? While we waited in line for this, a dad was wearing the same lightbulb necklace as the Grinch so Kent thought he was the Grinch. Hahah!

We got some popcorn and waited in line for the carriage rides because Kent loved those horses. We skipped all of the crafts, but he did get to eat a blueberry munchkin. It wasn't until later that we found out about the tree lighting and marshmallow roasting, but that's probably more appropriate for an older Kent. Can't wait for next year!

On Friday, I had some mom friends over for a playdate. I premade some sugar cookies and made Grinch muffins (spinach banana muffins) for a snack. There were other crafts to be made, but the kids just wanted to play around, so we didn't push it. It was happy chaos while we chatted on the side. Originally, 6 toddlers would have invaded the space, but 3 fell sick overnight so they couldn't make it. Looking back, 3 was really a better number than 6. The three already sounded like six....

Today, the school put on a party for all of the faculty and staff kids, complete with crafts, ice skating, a bounce house, snacks and an appearance from Santa! Kent was not interested in the crafts, but he loved the bounce house, playing games (especially basketball) and running in general. There was a photo booth so that was cute too.

Everybody was having pizza when we were told Santa was on the roof, so all of the kids sat together in a huddle to wait and sing Jingle Bells. When he came through the door, it was nuts!! Everyone went wild and Kent just watched it all, wide eyed.

And then Santa delivered gifts to all of the kids, one by one.

 Kent took his time ripping the paper off, distracted by everyone else getting his or her gift.

And when he finally saw what it was, he immediately stood up and came running to us to show off his present! Oh the enthusiasm!!

Kent got a basketball, football and soccer ball combo (thanks Nana and Papy!) and he requested to snuggle his football that night in bed.

We can't wait to have more fun with family next week.