Celebration play dough, also known as ‘party play dough’ in our house, is a favourite. I mean really… How can you not love it? It’s super sparkly and shiny, it’s bright and colourful, and it’s soft and squishy. Fun on soooo many levels. So in preparation for the big day tomorrow {how is it already NYE?!}, Miss G and I whipped up a fresh batch this morning.
Early this morning, Miss G and I sat down together and planned out how we’d spend our last day of 2014 as a family… Here’s what we came up with. Skating beneath the castle {we’ve been waiting to do this!}, some celebration science, the opening of our highly anticipated NYE surprise ball, then a pizza dinner followed by a dark chocolate fondue. By far my favourite part though? At the very last moment, Grae decided that she’d better plan our breakfast too. I was expecting something elaborate for the final day of the year, but her pick? TOAST. Hah – consider it done, my love. ☺
And Miss G could not be more thrilled about it. Why? According to her, the very best thing about snow is ‘always having a snack nearby’. Hah! Seriously. And not only does she eat it as we walk along the streets, but she regularly brings cups of it inside to eat with a spoon too.
A couple of days ago, I asked Brad if he’d fill a dish with snow and pop it into the freezer for us to play with at a later time. Back home in Canada, Miss G really loved snow spray painting, and I figured we’d try another {more traditional} type of painting on snow once we got our hands on some paint. Well, Miss G and I found some really inexpensive acrylics while out and about yesterday, so I was excited let Miss G paint on snow using brushes today. The project didn’t turn out quite as I envisioned it due to the fact that our snow turned into a full-on rock hard ice block during it’s time in the freezer, but painting on ice was a really fun and unique experience too!
On Sundays in Heidelberg, most everything is closed. And while that can be slightly annoying when you’re in need of milk or in the mood to browse, I sort of love it at the same time. Growing up, I lived in a teeny tiny town in northern Alberta where everything was closed on Sundays… It meant that on that day each week, our day was spent together as a family. Those days were slower than the others and I loved it.
Today was one of those days. A cold Sunday where we didn’t do much of anything other than force ourselves out of the flat for an hour to play at a nearby school. And it was lovely.
Today, well into our morning routine of sitting at the table together sipping on hot drinks before the sun rises, we realized something…
Our balcony was covered in a blanket of snow! It was so dark outside we hadn’t noticed even though we’d been sitting right in front of it for nearly 30 minutes, but the moment we did, we threw on our coats and boots {in between shrieks of ‘It’s snowing, Papa! It’s snowing!’, of course} and headed outside to play. It was heavy and sticky – the perfect snow for building things with, which made it that much better.
Today, after what was a fairly usual {holiday} day of exploring, visiting with friends, and playground fun, Miss G got the very best Christmas present of all… SNOW. Something she’s been patiently waiting for for nearly two years now {my poor little Canadian girl} and definitely a wish come true!
Ahhh… Such a great day. There’s nothing quite like seeing Christmas through the eyes of your child. Everything is just so exciting and wonderful. And though I’ve come to the conclusion that Christmas away from Canada and our families will always be a touch strange, I think we’ve settled into a nice little holiday routine with just our family of 3.
Our Christmas Eve was a lovely one this year…
Our flat was filled with friends {who are also visiting Heidelberg} for brunch, Grae and I did some midday ice play, the sun came out just in time for a long walk and visit to one of our favourite playgrounds, and we came across huge piles of leaves on our way home {a treat for a desert-dwelling kiddo!} Upon our return, we found chocolate and a handmade card on our doorstep and finished off our day with a movie night {the original Rudolph} and Miss G’s Christmas Eve presents {Christmas jammies and books, as always}. Here is our day in photos…
After creating a NYE celebration kit {that Miss G loved} last year, I knew I wanted to do something similar this year… I loved the idea of a collection of small things to make the evening extra special, but I wanted to present it differently just to change things up a little. That’s when the idea of a New Year’s Eve surprise ball came about. While I’ve admired the surprise balls I’ve seen on the lovely blog And We Play {Valentine’s ones | turkey ones}, I’d not tried my hand at making them until just recently, and I’m so glad I finally gave it a go. Making one was easy and fun and I already know that Miss G is going to love it, so I can totally see them becoming a special celebration ‘thing’ in our house.
Today was weird. The morning started off slowly, like many of our mornings have this trip, but then we just sort of stayed in pajamas and did nothing all day long.
While we spent some time at the Christmas market both yesterday and the day before, we really only visited one of many small markets around Heidelberg, and since today is the last day they’re open, we set out to visit a few of the other {further away} ones today. Getting all the way down to the furthest one definitely took a little bit of strategic planning since it’s nearly 3 kilometres from our flat and we chose to leave our stroller at home this trip, but Miss G’s been doing exceptionally well. Besides being carried or piggybacked by Brad for short bouts here or there, she’s walked everywhere we’ve gone with quite minimal complaints. The key? Lots of little pitstops on the way, plenty of {distracting} chat while walking, and setting out exciting destinations along the way as goals {the toy store, the carousel, the castle, etc.}
Here’s our day in photos…
With our vacation under way and everything Christmas basically prepared for, I’ve been thinking about New Year’s Eve recently… I’ve got something fun tucked up my sleeve for this year’s celebration {coming soon to CBC Parents!}, but I also really love the fun New Year’s Eve celebration kit I put together on a whim to help Miss G ring in 2014. Obviously, NYE isn’t the most kid-friendly holiday with the big celebration taking place at midnight and all {waaaaay too late for our little in bed at 6 p.m. gal}, but we surprised Miss G with this fun little kit early on in the evening last year and she had a total blast with it.
Today, while out touring around Heidelberg, Miss G and I kept our eyes peeled for pretty winter nature items. As we came across different things, we added them to reusable bag and then continued along our way. Just the fact that things like evergreen branches and winter berries can be found here is a huge treat to our little desert-dwelling lady, so collecting a bagful with the intention of making a winter nature sensory soup was really exciting.
