More Christmas activities

We had a number of Christmas activities planned for this holiday season that we ended up skipping. First up was the Holidazzle parade. Riley loved this last year, but between scheduling conflicts and cold weather we decided to skip it eve though it's the last year it will run. The last thing I wanted to do was to get downtown, pay for parking, squeeze into a spot with the crowds, and then have Riley freak out about the weather. She hasn't been very tolerant of the cold so it's just easier to find indoor activities.

That leads us to the Macy's Santaland Display. We initially thought about skipping this because it's the same display it's been for the last couple years we've gone and Riley never wants to see Santa anyway, but Jesse and I had a Monday off and thought we could beat the crowds and go in the afternoon after picking Riley up from preschool. Unfortunately, it snowed that day which made the roads just crappy enough that we decided to skip it.

We still wanted to do something that day so we hopped in the car and drove a few blocks to Oak Hill park. The trees in the park are lit up with Christmas lights from November through March and it just feels so magical to walk around under them. Turns out it was a little too cold for Riley and about 2 minutes out of the car she started whining to go home. We got her to walk a loop around the ice rink, but she was crying by the time we got to the car. Ok, so much for that.

Meh, so the Christmas activities weren't quite working out as we wanted. I decided to find activities we could do in the warmth of our own home. First up, was making chocolate dipped pretzels with peppermint. I'm not a big candy cane fan so half the batch were minus the peppermint. I also couldn't decide on the kind of chocolate so I made several different flavors: semi-sweet, white, and dark. I brought some of these into work and plan to bring the rest to other family gatherings.

Someone is loving her new Christmas hair bows.

I also bought a gingerbread house kit for us to tackle together. The day after I bought it Riley got to make a miniature version at preschool which she loved. We planned to make ours the next weekend, but once Riley got a taste of making one at school she asked to make ours every time she saw the box.

We eventually found the time to put together the gingerbread house this weekend and it ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would after reading a number of experiences on other blogs. Riley really enjoyed this so this will likely go on our list next year too.

 

Insisted on wearing two new hair bows.

Next up was cookies for Santa. I had left over chocolate from the pretzel treats so I decided that we'd make chocolate chip cookies instead of decorating sugar cookies like we did last year. Why be wasteful? Plus, I love me a chocolate chip cookie.

"Hey mom, look at me". The only time I can get her to stay still for a picture is apparently when she is doing something unsafe and wants it captured on camera.

In the end, Riley preferred the pretzel treats which was a-ok by me. More cookies for me! Er, I mean Santa. Yes, I must save some for Santa.

Getting a little Riley love for making Christmas treats together.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! Merry Christmas!