Today we headed down to our favourite beach to enjoy our last couple of hours with Grandma Charlotte. We played on the playground for a little bit and then made our way to the walking path (towards Cornwall Ave and Starbucks), to which Gracen immediately exclaimed, “Drink! Drink!”, knowing that a steamed milk with cinnamon was in her near future… Smart little cookie! Puppy kisses, puddle jumping, sea glass collecting, and extreme swinging were also involved. Here’s the proof:
Mondern merry-go-rounding.
A dreary day treat.
Splish splash.
Searching for something special.
With Papa’s help.
Taking it all in.
“Catching Papa”.
Extreme swinging, courtesy of Gma Char.
‘Hello down there!’
‘Wheeeeeee!’
Our morning ended with a tuckered out little lady falling asleep on the drive home (an hour before her usual nap time), therefore missing out on saying goodbye to her “Manmaw”. Oopsies. Although she didn’t wake up desperately searching for Grandma like we thought she might, she did remind us about where Grandma sleeps and where she sits at the table several times throughout the remainder of the day. Not to worry my sweet girl, Grandma’s last words were, “Make sure that foamie doesn’t go too far – I’ll be back at the end of March!” Days spent in the backyard gardening with Grandma are coming very soon, Miss G.
Grandma Charlotte was in town this weekend doing some professional development and visiting a friend, so we got to spend afternoon with her today. Gracen kept her busy with colouring projects and countless storybook requests. Grandmas don’t need rest, do they?
This little parcel arrived for Grae first thing this morning…
Of course, she wasted no time opening it.
Inside, Gracen found all kinds of pretty Valentine’s things from her “Manmaw” Charlotte.
Including this Valentine’s stamp set. When you see red splotches all over Gracen’s face and hands in the next few days, you’ll know why. :)
Gracen absolutely adores this little sweater from “Manmaw” Sue. In fact, I think she’s worn it everyday since she got it. It doesn’t matter how much it clashes with her outfit, it’s the only jacket she wants to wear right now. Oh, and just in case you forget who it’s from, she’ll remind you every few minutes by pointing to her sleeve while announcing “Manmaw” and nodding her head convincingly.
Christmas dinner complete with homemade perogies!
Grae had a little help polishing off her desert.
Grandma Sure and her grand babies.
Notice how Miss G is the only one not loving the pre-present photo session? I blame it on a bedtime drawing near…
Gracen opening her very special (and very large) gift just from Uncle Gary.
I wonder what it could be… Keep unwrapping, Grae.
Wow! Her very own wooden art easel! I can already see many finger painting sessions in this little artist’s future. Spoiled girl.
After opening her easel (and many other gifts she was spoiled with), she moved on to helping Papa with his.
After a wonderful day spent with family celebrating Christmas, this little lady was ready for bed. We tucked her in, and once her cousins were all down for the night, Bradley, Gary, Roz, and I met up with some friends and went out for the evening to celebrate Roz’s birthday. Grandma Sue had generously offered to stay home with all 4 munchkins while we enjoyed a night on the town. It was the first time Bradley and I had been out together since having Gracen, so we were a little nervous about how the night would go, but everything went great. When we tiptoed into the house at midnight, everyone was sound asleep and Grandma Sue hadn’t heard a peep.
Gracen and Korbin are bundled up and ready to hit the slopes.
Grae and Kinslee in their twin sleds.
The crew.
“Skating” while cozied up in her stroller.
Dinner in the warmth of the cantina.
This morning Gracen awoke at her usual time of 6:30 a.m. and was thrilled when we gave her her stocking filled with little treasures to root through…
She’s been patiently eyeing up the pretty packages scattered along the living room floor for days now while we’ve been reminding her that they are “for looking, but not for touching”. Today was finally her lucky day and she took unwrapping her packages very seriously.
She carefully opened each little stocking gift, ripping off tiny bits of paper until each present was fully revealed.
After all of that hard work, she finally got to enjoy her gifts. True to our tradition, this year she got Christmas jammies (which she opened on Christmas Eve and wore to bed), a special Christmas book, a new ornament for the tree, a few stocking stuffers, and one bigger item – her vintage table and chair set. She’ll also be getting a few handmade gifts at our ‘Christmas in January’ in the Okanagan, but shhhh… She doesn’t know that yet.
Grandpa Dave, Grandma Charlotte, and Uncle Brett arrived to our place shortly afterwards and once everyone had a cup of coffee in hand, Gracen opened her packages from her grandparents and uncle.
Talk about being spoiled. She got some new clothes, shoes, winter gear, hair pretties, books, and blocks.
Of course she loved Papa’s Steve Jobs biography just as much as her own gifts. :)
After present opening, it was time for stories with Uncle Brett while Mama, Papa, and GC prepared brunch.
Christmas breakfast, complete with a tree-shaped egg and a brand new Christmas dish set from Great Grandma Shirley.
With a messy breakfast out of the way, Grae got dressed in her pretty little Christmas clothes and shoes.
The rest of our day pretty much looked like this. There was a lot of lounging, reading, snacking, and relaxing involved.
Of course there was also lots of playing with her new things for Miss G. She absolutely adores these photo blocks from GC and GD.
Back to eating! Last year, Grae wasn’t yet eating solids, so this was her first ever Christmas dinner. She even tried a few of the Ukranian foods Mama’s family always had at holiday meals while growing up and liked them all.
Our hope was to take a decent family photo dinner was cleaned up and put away, but unfortunately, that mission proved to be impossible. Five grown adults and a baby in one shot led to silly faces, hysterical laughing, crossed eyes, and a random Cabbage Patch doll joining the family. But you know what wasn’t impossible? Getting 15 great shots of a too-busy-to-sit-still-for-one-minute toddler. Haha! Weird how that works. Ogasawara crew, you’re a tough bunch!
Snuggles and Christmas stories with Grandma Charlotte.
Building inspection with Grandpa Dave and Papa.
A visit to Van Dusen Botanical Gardens for the Festival of Lights.
Mistletoe kisses for Mama.
Christmas Eve pajama opening.
Trying out the new potty seat Grandpa Dave bought.
Stockings hung from the chimney with care and a little vintage table refinished and ready for Miss G’s Christmas morn.
Tonight Grandma Charlotte and Grandpa Dave arrived for the holidays. Gracen very anxiously awaited their arrival in front of the window and luckily they made it just in time to have a good visit before she had to go to sleep. I have a feeling that this is going to be a Christmas full of spoiling. :)