Getting Ready for Christmas Festivities

It may the new year, but it is time for us to reflect on the last month of 2009. We did our best to pack a whole lot of holiday activities into our travel break from the end of Thanksgiving in California to our Christmas trip to Connecticut.


The first thing we had to do was go out and get a tree. For the record, we flew back from Sacramento on Saturday, November 28 and went tree shopping on Sunday, November 29. This is the earliest we have ever put up a tree. But we wanted to make certain that we made up for the fact that last year we didn't even get one. So here we have Callie and John walking through the rows of available trees at our local Christmas tree vendor. When you go shopping on November 29, you have quite a selection.



Here is the chosen one, all wrapped up and ready to get into the house. The whole process definitely intrigued Callie to no end. She enjoyed watering the tree and putting up the ornaments. And as a reward for reading through this lengthy post, you will get to see some pics of the finished version.






With the tree up, our next activity was supposed to be a quick and simple fun family project - decorating a gingerbread house. How hard could it be? One evening we set aside a couple of hours to assemble the house and decorate it with all of the finest candies in town. However, as John read the directions, the assembly was supposed to take 6-7 hours when you factor in drying time for the icing/paste. Therefore this turned into a 3-day project. Callie was remarkably patient.


Although we are not going to give you a play-by-play of the decorating process, we need to let you know that Callie truly enjoyed "accidentally" getting the icing on her fingers so that she had to lick it off and eating an M&M here and there. We think the finished product came out quite well.




The tree was up and the gingerbread house was complete and looking good. Two checkmarks were now on the to-do list. Next up, some quality time with her friend Iain.


The first step was a present exchange. Iain thoughtfully gave Callie a few of his favorite books all about Gossie, Gertie, Ollie, Peedy, and other feathered friends. Needless to say, Callie loved them. She thought Iain would like a playmobil dumptruck, and all signs point to her being very right. But the gift exchange was only the beginning. As you can see in this picture, Iain's coat is off, but his parents still have theirs on. That's right, we had Iain for the evening.


So off we went to the "Southern Lights" display at the Kentucky Horse Park. This is the second time we have gone, and we were once again impressed with the display. They have everything from the entire 12 days of Christmas to Star Wars to the Keeneland starting gate and horse races. It is pretty impressive. But the lights are only one part of the whole fiesta.


In two of the buildings at the horse park they have a craft fair and a model train exhibit. Both Iain and Callie loved the trains. They would have stayed there all night if they could. And we must admit, the trains and the detailed little towns were quite cool.






Here is more evidence of their enjoyment of this element of the evening. Although we didn't get a photo, they also both enjoyed Thomas the Tank Engine, who had his own little section of the display.




Now we must also point out, that at this point in the evening, it was past the regular dinnertimes of both Callie and Iain. The trains seem to have made them forget their hunger and so we weren't too worried. Besides, there was a corn dog vendor outside and we knew we could always depend on a child's appreciation for breaded meat on a stick.


This picture is a case in point. Callie enjoyed the corn dog. We don't have a picture of Iain eating the corn dog, because he did not want anything to do with it. This is probably because his mother provides him with such an amazing assortment of well-prepared foods that are, shall we say, a bit classier than your average corn dog. Iain is a boy with discerning tastes. So now we felt guilty and realized it was time to leave to get Iain some food and put them both to bed. On our drive home we got a call from Iain's parents wondering where we were. Hmmmmm....apparently they were done with dinner and ready to pick up their child who surely was sleeping after a good meal. What are the odds that we will get to babysit Iain in the near future?


Why is Callie in her Halloween outfit in December? Well, look closer at the picture and see what she is holding in her hands. We got a package from Nana Banana (aka Nana Taffy) and it contained one of the coolest ornaments ever.



It is an almost exact replica of Callie in her doggie costume. We all loved it. Callie was quick to put it up on the tree.


This felt ornament has more meaning than you might expect. John and his two sisters have similar felt ornaments that Taffy made and every Christmas there is a contest over the placement of those ornaments. In other words, who is in the most prominent place on the tree. So Callie's ornament is part of that grand tradition.


This year we decided to write Santa and ask to celebrate Christmas early before we got on the plane to Connecticut. Fortunately we had all been good in 2009 and he complied with our wish.




It was pretty cool because the day we chose to celebrate, the Sunday before Christmas, there was snow on the ground in Lexington. It was a white Christmas that we could all enjoy. What a great day. All of the stockings were full of great gifts. Callie got a stroller for her baby, a playmobil safari set, and some great books.


And Santa was kind enough to provide a good breakfast for Callie....a cookie. All in all it was a good day and we had a great time playing with our new toys and spending time together. But this was only the beginning. We had to get the house in order before we headed out for another Christmas gathering in Madison. That post is coming soon, so stay tuned.