This little lady is becoming the biggest daddy’s girl. For as long as I can remember, she and I have spent Friday mornings together to allow Brad some time to himself after a long week at work… Well, that’s all changed recently. Friday mornings roll around now and she wants nothing more than to hang out with her Papa and have me head out on an adventure – solo! Hah!
Woohoo! Christmas vacation is officially here and I couldn’t be more excited. After much debate, we decided to spend this year’s holidays in Heidelberg, Germany once again {and I’m so glad we did}. While it’s always nice to see new places, Heidelberg is pretty much perfect for us when it comes to Christmas vacation spots. Besides being beautiful and very Christmassy this time of year, it’s also quite an affordable European vacation destination. The weather is cold {just the way we like Christmas to be} but not too cold, the city is friendly and walkable, and rental flats are readily available. There’s an outdoor skating rink and several small Christmas markets, and you can walk around the city sipping on a warm glühwein day or night. Need I say more?
We spent most of our day today in transit, and let me say – Miss G is a total trooper. Not only did she let both Brad and I sleep on the plane for a little bit {while watching part of Frozen, albeit, but hey – sometimes you’ve got to take what you can get}, but she also sat sardined in between bags on a very tightly packed train, transferred to train number two without an issue, and then walked for at least a half hour or so in the rain to our flat {well past her bedtime} while commenting on how walking was really good exercise for your body. We arrived to our lovely little flat, checked it out, and then promptly put our girl to bed for the night. We did run into the upstairs neighbours who {very kindly} let us know that they’re having a party tonight, but with any luck, we’ll all get a good sleep and be ready to explore Heidelberg tomorrow morning. Here’s hoping!
Though I truly do miss the rain, cold, and snow of back home this time of year, I really can’t complain about spending December days at the beach in 24 degree weather. Today’s adventure included a coffee pit stop first thing, a visit to the playground with friends, stories of the sea cuddled up in front of the sea, loads of sand art, and a warm milk for Miss G on the way home. A lovely morning, to say the least.
Welp, I guess that’s shoe tying taken care of.
Hah! In all fairness, I’ve not shown her how to properly shoes and she’s not asked. Because why would you if you had already mastered this awesome {and very open-ended} weaving method?!
While everyone else may have stopped visiting weeks ago, I think fall may be the Hilton’s very best season… The season of playground play and beach exploring! Both are pretty much out of the question during the hot spring and summer months, so Miss G and I are taking full advantage now that we can bear to be outdoors without being in a pool. This morning we had all kinds of fun on the beach digging for creatures, collecting treasures, and writing and reading words in the sand, and next week we’ll try doing a little playground tour with Miss G’s bike. ☺
Here’s our morning in photos…
Was there any way I could resist buying these glasses for Miss G this summer? Nope, there certainly wasn’t.
Today was one of those days were you roll out of bed, do nothing all morning, and then when lunchtime rolls around, realize you’ve done nothing all morning and kick it into high gear for the rest of the day. Despite a very emotional couple of hours in the afternoon, it was exactly what we needed. Our morning was filled with books, cuddles, manicures, pretend play, and Miss G’s first ever taste of {dark} chocolate chip pancakes, while the afternoon took us into tear-apart-the-house-and-clean-and-reorganize-everything mode. Gracen was the best little helper and kept saying, ‘Sure! Of course I’ll do that for you, Mama. I’ll always help you.’ It pretty much melted my heart. Then there were a couple very emotional hours that were soothed by a candlelit lavender bath, followed by a comfort food dinner and bedtime. Ahhh…
manicure station // mama’s turn
surprise pancakes // chocolate chip!
organized // clean, finally
lavender bath // deconstructed lasagna
I walked in the door from tutoring tonight just as Brad was tucking Miss G into bed for the night. Like she usually does when my arrival interrupts her calm bedtime routine, Grae ran out of her bedroom excited to greet me. Only tonight, she was wearing this. No joke. This is what she had purposefully put on in preparation for bedtime. And by the look on Brad’s face, we weren’t challenging the issue. As I tucked her in for the night, I asked if she has been cold at night recently. Her answer? ‘No. These things keep my body protected if a witch comes in my covers and tries to bite me while I’m sleeping.’ Ummmm… Alright then?
Having felt absolutely awful all day today, I happily passed off my parenting duties when Brad walked in the door this afternoon and crawled into bed for some quiet. Gracen’s big thing right now is playing hairdresser and I listened intently from the next room while she talked her Papa through several hairstyles just as a master stylist teaching new hairdressing students would. About 20 minutes or so in, she announced that she would be right back as she needed to retrieve some water, but not to worry – doing so was something she could handle on her own. Then I heard the pitter patter of little feet make their way to the washroom, retrieve some water, and head back to their eagerly waiting client. Only, the client wasn’t waiting eagerly at all. In fact, this client was fast asleep {and had been for the entire duration of his appointment!!} Needless to say, he was no longer asleep when the cold water started pouring on his head – bahaha! {Definitely worth the effort of dragging my sorry self out of bed to snap a quick iPhone photo!}
My girl and I were in town today running some errands when we decided to make a quick trip to one of our Okanagan favourites – Davison Orchards!
A fairy costume, gardening gloves, and an enthusiastic version of ‘Let It Go’…
There’s no doubt that Miss G knows how to finish the day off right.
