Anxiously Waiting for Christmas
Christmas season seemed especially short this year: between a late Thanksgiving, and the expanded birthday celebration, we had fewer days to cram in festive activities. Even if we did a little less this year, we definitively made sure to include plenty of fun.
We started the season with Keegan’s school Winter Wonderland on December 6, one of the two winter events sponsored by MBMA. This was mainly a fundraiser, with different food vendors, some crafts and a bake sale. They even brought in a little snow, but the wait was atrocious: we had to stay in line for more than 25 minutes for a two seconds slide. Keegan enjoyed the festivities with his classmate Kevin, and he was even a winner in the “cake-walk”: he chose 8 chocolate cupcakes as reward.
The following day, we went to the annual Cookies With Santa event at Van’s house. It is a fundraisers for Down Syndrome, and it is always lots of fun. There are crafts, games, and lots of cookies. We got plenty of raffle tickets this time, and made sure that Keegan touched each one of them, since he is the lucky one. And sure enough, he won two Legoland Tickets! Of course we would have preferred restaurant gift certificate, but he is the one with the all the luck!
At the party there was also Santa, posing for pictures, so we made our way to the pool house. Santa checked how much he grew.
Then Keegan, sat on his lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas: an electric pencil sharpener, new pens and lots of treats! Well, this is all new to me.
The best part of the party, however, was the fresh snow in the front yard, and that is where Keegan spent most of the time. Beside Van, Camren from his preschool was also there, so the kids had lots of fun with snowballs fights…and trying not to get too wet.
That was a busy weekend: beside the Christmas party, we also had Keegan’s Birthday party and we bought the tree and decorated the house. Whew!
The following weekend, it was Mom and Dad’s time to celebrate the season, with my annual work Christmas Brunch. It is always nice to enjoy a leisure Sunday brunch at an elegant hotel, with no kids. Taking an adult only photo was a different story, and an impossible feat, as Keegan was jumping in the frame, goofing around. We did have a lovely time, once out of the house.
The following week was already the last week before Christmas break, so we were very busy. On Monday, I finally got Keegan to write his letter to Santa. It was not easy to keep him focused, especially when he saw Gaia and the two started playing together. I had to help out. And once again, the electric pencil sharpener was number 1 in the list.
Just like last year, I wanted to take him to the mall, to mail it. Macy will give $1 per letter to the Make A Wish Foundation. Differently from last year, it was not pouring rain: in fact it was very warm.
Matt met us at the mall, and we headed to our traditional photo with Santa (4th year in a row). This time we could finally see well the new, modern digs.
We had a quick dinner at the ice skating ring, and Keegan even met one of his friends, so he got to play around a bit.
Most of week itself flew by quickly, especially because Keegan was very busy rehearsing for his big show, on Thursday. They are not kidding around at Mission Bay Montessori. They were required to wear specific clothes, and props were provided. They spent the whole month of December practicing, up to one hour a day…insane! They even had a dress rehearsal.You were forbidden from taking photos or video of the show, since they had a professional videographer shoot the whole thing, and of course, you could buy the DVD, for the affordable price of $35. A volunteer purchase, of course. They even went so far as to offer wristband for seating, adding that parents in previous years lined up 3 hours early to get the best seats! You gotta be kidding me. Remember this show is performed in the auditorium, and you can see perfectly fine even from the very back…I felt like I was in an upside down world. Then again, some parents did watch the show twice, showing up at both performances.
The big day finally came. Keegan was excited, because he had two performances. He got all dressed early in the morning. I don’t think I will see him wearing slacks and button-down shirt till at least next Christmas. He does look adorable, though.
It was a bit of a rush because I still took him to Italian class that afternoon, and while I was waiting for him, I finally enjoyed the only free time I had all week. It was glorious: just sitting there and watched a movie for 90 minutes, thanks to the free wi-fi at the Jewish Center where he is taking his class. We rushed back to school, so he could get ready. Still incredible: slacks, buttoned down shirt, dress shoes! His teacher, ms. Sandra, helped him adjust the cummerbund and bow-tie.
There was barely enough time for him to pose with his teachers, and than it was off to the auditorium, for the performance.
The show lasted 1.5 hours!!!! Keegan’s class performed first, and then we had to sit through all the other performances. Yes, they were cute, but seriously…1.5 hours! Of course, to make sure parents would not leave after their children were done, they made sure all classes came back together for a final number!!! It was a cold and rainy night, but the kids made it a lot warmer.
When it was over, we went back to grab our children, and it was time for more photos. Here he is with his classmate Kalista.
what a dashing little gentlemen
Thursday night show signaled the end of school for Keegan: why didn’t they go to school for another more day, Friday December 20, is a mystery for me. Well, I had to go to work, so Keegan spent some time with dad. As luck wanted, I also had a two hours meeting after class, so I did not make it home till almost three. Fortunately Matt was able to take Keegan to work with him, and get some stuff done. That night Keegan had a Parents’ Night Out at his pool, so we finally were able to took a breath and relax a little. And with Keegan home for two weeks, we definitely need all the rest and relaxation we can get.
Christmas vacation had officially began. We started it off with a visit to Seaworld. It has been a while, but it is always fun to go during the holidays. It was another great day, and we were able to get there somewhat early. Still, it was very crowded, as it is expected during a weekend this time a year. We met Julia and her family at one of the shows, and Keegan was happy to share it with her.
We admired all the Holiday decorations and features, especially the Polar Tree and the live reindeer.
The snow is always the big attraction, but this year we had bad timing: you definitely need to come here during the weekdays. We were able to claim a little bit of snow, to build a micro-snowman. It was not an easy feat: between the crowds and this aggressive little boy that was obviously set to destroy whatever Keegan built, while his parents were of course oblivious, we had to defend our territory.
We even made it up the hill for a quick slide down: but once again, Keegan did not want to wait on line for more. He rather watched shows and animals, like the Polar Bears, Penguins, Sharks and Sea Turtles.
Monday December 23 was a work day for most people, including Matt. I was, however, home, so I offered to help out a friend from preschool, and we had a marathon playdate, 8am-4.30pm. Wow, that was exhausting. Fortunately Keegan and Brady get along well, overall, so we did not have too many issues till early afternoon. The kids started the day with breakfast and running the scooters in the neighborhood (a guess a second scooter comes handy someimes). Then they played a little and we headed up to the zoo. We saw bears, funny monkeys, birds, elephants, leopards, and polar bears. The kids had fun playing around the Elephant Odyssey area.
They explored the polar bear den, and the research helicopter.
We took the skyfari, an overhead tramway, and then checked out the reptiles before getting some lunch and heading home. The afternoon was a little more challenging. The neighbor kids stopped by, but Brady did not want to play with them, since he did not know them, and it was a little difficult to find something both wanted to play. By then it had been a long day, and both kids were a little tired. They had a good time, overall, though.
When Brady left at 4.30 I was pretty much done, but Keegan was still ready to play, and met up with the other kids that were still out playing. Where does he find the energy? And most importantly, how doesn’t he need some time to recharge after spending the whole day socializing??? Finally Matt got home around 6 and I could finally take a breather. I am sure glad I don’t have to teach a kindergarten class. In the evening Keegan and Matt baked some interesting gingerbread cookies, Ninjabread cookies to be exact.
Christmas Eve was an interesting one. As we were getting into the Christmas spirit, Keegan cornered us, bright and early, asking us if Santa is real of if it us the ones who bring him presents. Now, what perfect timing! Couldn’t he wait one more day? He was obviously not looking for reassurance, and he seemed pretty sure Santa did not rally exist. We asked what was he thought was the right answer, instead of answering him outright, and he really insisted we told him the truth. He was a little sad, but not excessively. We told him Santa was really the spirit of Christmas, that inspires us to be better and to be generous, and that if he believes in it, he is real. So, he concluded he did believe, but he knew it was us bringing him presents (and consequently eating the cookies he left out). So, here it is, our son. Why does he always have to come up with this stuff? The only silver lining I want to see is that maybe, this is the beginning of his critical thinking and questioning things, instead of blindingly accepting them. He is already questioning us, as the authority anyway, right?
We still made sure we had a great time, getting ready for the big day. And I have to say that knowing the truth did not seem to diminish his excitement about it. We had a picnic at Kate Session Park, a beautiful place with amazing views of the ocean and the bay.
Keegan is getting better and better at taking photos
We took the scooter with us, and Keegan practiced riding on steep hills. He was very brave and really faced his fear.
As the sun set, we took a stroll in the magical lighted street down from our house. As every year, it was beautiful. In fact,m we even saw a newscaster shooting a report in front of one of the houses. Many of the homeowners had set up hot chocolate and cider stations, and it was nice, pleasant evening.
This year, even more than in the past, I really did all of my shopping online. I don’t know how I did it before the internet. The thought of braving crowds at the mall makes me feel sick. It is so much easier just to click and shop. The only drawback, is that you need to buy early and be organized to make sure you get stuff on time. So, for most of December we had almost daily deliveries. One day I got at least 8 separate packages.
I love internet shopping
On Christmas Eve, after Keegan went to sleep, it was time for us to get to work: we had wrapping to do. I already took care of Matt’s gifts, but there was plenty to wrap for Keegan. Matt also planned ahead, and assembled his new bike a few days early. We were done pretty early, and enjoyed some Holiday music and made it to bed at a decent time. Everything was ready for the big day.
Our Lego Family Holiday card
