Happy Christmas
I’m behind on getting photos/videos/posts up, but am working on them . . . in the meantime, I put this together quickly for a short Christmas posting! Happy Christmas everyone!
Another dancing Kate date!
When Kate and Elliot get together, they often find a reason to dance—this time it was dancing along to The Nutcracker.
Christmas 2009: Meema + Dampa’s, Wolf Creek
Dampa’s fudge, board games galore, myriad drummers drumming, applets and cotlets and, of course, the unwrapping of many presents—Christmas in Bellevue was a lot of fun! Though we were sad to leave, we were excited to stay at our new favorite: the Wolf Creek Inn—a historic stage coach stop which became a favorite of Mary Pickford, Jack London, Orson Welles, Clark Gable and more. The Inn is a gem and the food is amazing.
Click through for a few more photos . . .
Christmas 2009: Winters, Mimi + Pop’s and cousins
We decided to make the trip up north for Christmas. And we decided to drive. The weather was spectacular. Despite a minor hitch (overheated car) that left us stranded on the side of the road and then exploring the village of Winters while our engine was looked over, our drive was fairly uneventful.
Our stay with Mimi and Pop was wonderfully eventful, though. What you see here is an attempt to capture
Click through for photos . . .
Jingle bells.
Here’s Elliot in her school’s Christmas celebration.
Christmas is coming.
In one weekend, the Christmas season kicked off: Santa riding on his vintage firetruck, crafts and treats at the Community Center, Night Before Christmas ballet recital, tree hunting, tree dressing and cookie decorating.
the lineup
It’s pretty common for us to find a long line of Elliot’s toys around the house–a passtime she inherits from her Meema (who was known to do the same thing as a little girl.)
A couple more photos below the jump . . .
frosty love
Elliot had never played in the snow before, so we drove out to one of our favorite little mountain towns, Truckee, to let her experience a white post-Christmas. As we climbed towards Donner Pass and patches of snow began to appear, she began to regularly ask to get out of the car and build a snow man. She remained patient as we got into snow-blanketed town and checked into the historic Truckee Hotel, ate some lunch and then search the area for the perfect sledding spot. When we finally found a suitable place, she threw herself gleefully into sledding down the hill and lovingly building her first snow man. The smile never seemed to leave her face. She LOVED sledding and, as you can see, she LOVED the snow man.
More of Sarah’s photos below the jump . . .
simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Elliot on Christmas morning–Thank you to Rudolph for the sleigh bell, Meema and Grandpa for the new kitchen (keep an eye out for the cameo by the play food from Auntie Mato and Karson) and to Mimi and Pop for the race track!
Video is below and some of my ambient photos are below the jump . . .
(I wiggled with happiness when I opened my melodica!)
happy Christmas eve!
Elliot enjoyed watching The Nutcracker so much she had to start participating in it. She’s having the time of her life this Christmas–hope you all are having a very happy Christmas eve, too . . . !
Elliot’s playlist: The Jackson 5 “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause”
Elliot heard The Jackson 5’s rendition of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause the other day and was totally taken by Michael Jackson. She asked all about him and we showed her a couple old Jackson 5 photos and videos. Now, all she wants to listen to is The Jackson 5 Christmas Album–and she gets upset when songs that don’t prominently feature Michael’s voice come on; “I can’t hear Michael!” By far, however, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause is her favorite, and she can often be heard singing it.
Yesterday, she was talking with one of her stuffed animals and said, “Michael Jackson is my best friend!” “NO WAY!” was Sarah’s response from the kitchen.
(There’s only room for one Peter Pan and Neverland in Elliot’s life!)
craftiness: holiday centerpiece
Sarah created a homemade centerpiece for our table–and I couldn’t resist sharing it. I think it complements our dining room nicely, along with some of our other holiday decorations. more photos below the jump…
“hi, I’m a snowman”
we walked next door to the tree lot that’s on the other side of our fence to pick out a tree last weekend. the lot must’ve held some mysterious allure for Elliot as its festive string lights, pine fresh scents and occasional buzzsaw roar have been easing their way into our life over the last couple weeks. she entered the lot with glee and immediately weaved her way among the myriad firs in delight. at least one of us was always following her closely–most often by the sound of her bubbling laughter. when she found the area set aside for the small ‘table top’ trees (just her height), she expressed her affection for each one with a hug and a kiss.
though she had difficulty actually hanging ornaments on the branches–evidenced by the oft-repeated statement, “here, this one will rest on top of the branch”–she found several other ways to help and relished being part of it. for a while, she ferried ornaments from the larger table to the small stool next to me, which saved me the trips! highlights also included hot chocolate, muppets singing, a fire in the fireplace and a string of lights she adopted as a pet.
a favorite activity of hers, now, is to stand at the tree and talk to the ornaments or have them interact with each other. she has a few favorites that she makes sure to call upon each time she visits the tree. to the train: “chugga chugga, choo choo,” in a low voice to the snowman: “hi, i’m a snowman,” in a silly voice to a pink, felt pig, “hi, i’m a pig!” every morning, she counts to three and the lights on the tree magically turn on. at night she brushes her teeth in the dimmed living room, keeping an eye on the tree.
(just noticed poor Bosley’s view of the tree was a bit obscured)
silver bells . . .
this weekend, we took Elliot to see a production of Peter Pan by a children’s theater in Fort Mason with Mary & Karson. Elliot loved it, but did spend a large amount of time covering her ears and burying her face in our shoulders due to the constant threat of a Captain Hook appearance. Later, we went down to Union Square to see the ice skaters, tree, lights and window displays . . . and have a bit of chocolate.
Enjoy Auntie Mato’s pictures from the evening (thank you Mary)
(not shown in the photos: after carrying Elliot on my shoulders, I had to take off my shirt and rub my shoulders in the middle of the sidewalk)
elliot hours 