Christmas Activities

Christmastime is my favorite time of the year so I try to fill it with as many seasonal activities as possible.  Here are some of the things we were up to in the weeks prior to the big day.

Cookie exchange prep.

Candy Cane Lane.

This house was your favorite....

....because of this Santa.  He opened and closed the door and every time he popped back out you would wave and say Hi.

We stood there watching that Santa forever, then came back to it again later and stood there again.  I'm sure you would have more times after that if we'd let you.

We discovered this ice cream cone trash can in Santa Monica on our way to watch the ice skaters and you were really fascinated with it.  I think it's possible you may have wanted to eat it.

Making your donation to the toy drive.

We came to watch the ice skaters, but you quickly decided you wanted to give it a try.  I hadn't planned for that, but was willing to see how it went.

There was a little mini rink just for kids starting out.  I went in with you and we made one lap around the outside.  I was holding you up with one hand and holding me up against the railing with the other.  I was exhausted after that one lap.

After the ice rink we went to see the official tree lighting on 3rd Street Promenade and happened to see your friend Josh from school.  For reference, Josh is 11 months older than you and almost as tall.

Wrapping the gift you picked out for Daddy.

Making cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.

I found a recipe for gingerbread ornaments and wanted to give it a try.  Unfortunately I didn't find the recipe until after Christmas.  I justified making them anyway to compensate for all the broken ornaments this year.

Total broken ornaments:  5
Total broken by Kinley:  4
Total broken by Kinley that were handmade or personalized gifts:  4
Total broken by Kinley on accident:  possibly 0

You were sad when Christmas was over and wanted to keep wrapping gifts, for next Christmas.  I let you wrap one additional gift and packed it away with the tree.  It should be a nice surprise when we find it next year.