Christmas Holidays

Well we are three weeks in to January, so I guess it's about time I posted about our holidays! As a teacher, I had two weeks off school, although I'm not sure that two weeks with two young kids can really be considered "time off"! It was nice, however, to not have to set an alarm, to stay in my PJs all morning and to spend time with the family.

Our holidays started off cold and snowy, and we took the kids for some walks around the marsh near our house. The marsh had frozen solid due to consistent cold temperatures in early December, so there were a few games of pond hockey going on. This was Ollie's first glimpse of a hockey game, and I think he was pretty impressed. Throughout the Christmas holidays we had hockey on TV a lot, watching the World Junior Hockey Championships, so Ollie now points to the TV and says "hockey" a lot. Also, how cute is he in this Team Canada jersey? (A hand me down from his sister, who of course had to get in the photo!)

Andy and I visited the Aurora Winter Festival with Ella and Ollie, held in Toronto at Ontario Place. As soon as we arrived Ella spotted the skating rink and wanted to try skating, so we rented skates and I took her out onto the ice. In case you were wondering, teaching a four year old to skate is HARD WORK. Especially as I wasn't used to wearing hockey skates (figure skates are different, with a "toe pick" on the end of the blade). Plus, even though I figure skated for many years as a child, I haven't skated in years! We managed a lap or two around the rink before I decided my back was in too much pain to continue. But even though she fell onto the hard ice every, oh, metre or so, Ella seemed to enjoy it and didn't complain about how cold and wet the ice was.

Next we went off in search of some food, and ended up in an makeshift indoor restaurant, which was basically a big marquee tent with tables, chairs and most importantly heaters. While we were there some children's entertainers came on the stage, and Ella and Ollie had a great time dancing to them with lots of other children. 

By the time we left the marquee restaurant it was dark out, so we walked through the enchanted forest, which was a spectacular light display filled with trees and animals made from Christmas lights. There was a very magical feel to it, and was a perfect way to start the holidays and get into the Christmas spirit.

The next day my brother Mike and his wife Ashley arrived from California. Ashley had to work from home that day, so Mike, my parents, Ella and I went back to the winter festival for day two. This time we spent time going on the fairground rides with Ella, which she loved. It was a good way for her to reconnect with her Uncle Mike quickly. 

On Christmas Eve we opened our Christmas Eve present, matching Onesies! I cannot tell you how much I love this. 

Christmas day was very exciting for both Ella and Ollie. The magic of Santa was truly alive. Ella's main gift from my parents was a dollhouse, which went over well. Ollie also loves playing with it, although he only really gets to when Ella is in school. If he moves things around she knows immediately, and will exclaim "Oh that Ollie has been in my dollhouse again!" before putting everything back in their proper places.

We had a really relaxing slow day. Presents were opened at a pretty slow pace. We took breaks for breakfast, Ollie's nap, and so Ella could play with new toys. Dinner was just the 8 of us, so there wasn't a big rush to get the house cleaned up and ready for guests. We got out for a brisk walk around the marsh, trying to burn off at least a few of the calories we piled on with treats throughout the day. I thought the kids might get overwhelmed, but surprisingly we didn't have any tears or tantrums. All in all it was a very good day!

On Boxing Day I was able to get out to a yoga class before we headed off to my Aunt Barb's house for the afternoon. We've always spent Boxing Day with my dad's side of the family, so it was great to partake in this tradition again. 

On weekend between Christmas and New Year's my mom threw a baby shower for Mike and Ashley. They are expecting a baby boy in March. I will finally be an Aunt, how exciting! Lots of our family and friends came and it was a really fun afternoon.

The second week of our holidays were pretty low key. Andy and I took the kids to a trampoline park one day, which they both loved. It was Ollie's first time and he thought it was brilliant!

New Year's was spent at home. Mike and Ashley left that day, although they got stuck in Denver airport, missing their connection, and had to spend New Year's in a hotel nearby. My parents had a few neighbours over as they do every year, and Andy and I crashed their party. We played games and toasted the New Year before retiring to bed at about 12:05am. Of course, the "olds" stayed up until about 3am, putting us to shame! Andy and I knew we'd be up at the crack of dawn (or earlier), so I'm pretty impressed we actually made it to midnight. Later I heard from a friend who celebrates New Year's with another young family in a pretty awesome way. They have a late afternoon/early evening party with the kids, have a pretend countdown at 7pm, and then put the kids to be shortly after. Brilliant! I am totally doing this next year.

I managed to get to yoga classes on New Year's Eve AND New Year's Day, thus setting up my January intention well. It was such a lovely way to start the New Year.

On January 2nd Andy went to Whistler to go snowboarding with a friend for 5 days. I was definitely jealous, although I don't really ski or snowboard. I've never been to Whistler, and his pictures were amazing. Andy loves snowboarding and hasn't gone since we left England, so it was really great that he was able to do this. He got some great photos and even went on the Olympic bobsled track on his last day, which looked pretty awesome!

We are back in the swing of things now, working and going to school, and the holidays seems like they were forever ago. Andy has started a part time job at my school teaching Grade 5 art, which he likes so far. He has also been doing some supply teaching, so his work situation seems more promising. My dad left this week to visit my brother in California for a month, helping him with kitchen renovations. We are all super jealous that he is missing four weeks of winter. My mom is on her own with the kids all day, and I'm sure it is quite the challenge getting Ella dressed and out the door to school on time. Especially as she has to bundle Ollie up in all his winter gear for the short walk. We are in the depths of a Canadian winter my friends, with a few months to go until we can hope for spring. Let's hope we survive...