Th Peak at Grouse Mountain

The last time we went to The Peak at Grouse Mountain, Ethan was still napping and we had to cut the visit short. This year we went up again with the Tulks and it was an awesome night. What a difference a few years makes. We lucked out and were blessed with awesome weather. We opted to go in the afternoon and try to stay into the evening because I wanted to make sure to hit the Night Walk while it was dark out. The kids and Philip all took advantage of the outdoor skating rink. It was so funny to watch Ethan first get his skating legs back. Just like Bambi on ice. While they were skating we line up for the sleigh ride. They even served hot chocolate while you wait in line. After the sleigh ride it was time to head inside to get some dinner and warm up. Plus delicious french fries were calling our name. (Seriously, the fries were so yummy! Not Joanne's, but everyone else's were delicious.) By the time we came back out, the sky was dark enough for the light walk. It was so beautiful and worth the wait. The kids both say this was their favourite part. They had a great time tromping off trail and sliding down the powdery snow. After the Night Walk, the kids still wanted to try the sliding centre. We rented two carpets and while we walked to the hill, someone came and gave us their slides to use as well. Once the sliding was done, it was cold enough for us to head back into the chalet to watch a movie. They had short Christmas films playing in the theatre along with a coloring station and a place to write a letter to Santa. Before heading home, we stopped for hot chocolate and a stroll through the gingerbread lane. We all had a blast and hope that perhaps this will become a Christmas tradition for years to come!

 

Santa Picture 2015

The big day is coming up. We've been slowly crossing off some of the items on our seasonal things-to-do list. We went to the Christmas Wish Breakfast, the Christmas party with Josh's work at Grouse Mountain, Canyon Lights (Yay, we got two seasons worth with our year passes!), decorated the tree, year end parties for Beavers and Brownies and bought our Christmas ornaments of the year. The kids an I also got to see a performance of Arts Umbrella's Dance show called Mixed Nuts. It was an awesome surprise as I had no idea what we were signing up for back in the fall. Still a few things left on the wish list, but they are somewhat weather dependent. (Trinity Street light, Burnaby Village Museum and The Peak at Grouse Mountain.) We'll have to see.

2 days left of school and counting. Let's do this!!

P.S. Really more for myself than anyone else. I can't seem to find the list of ornaments from previous years. So here is just a reminder for myself: Maddy's ornament this year was a Black Capped Chickadee in honor of her study of birds in school. Ethan's is a penguin, again because he learned all about penguins this fall. (Though the penguins we learned about did not have blush on their cheeks and sport rainbow toques and scarves)

Ethan's First Loose Tooth

This happened close to a month ago, but I feel like I must remember the moment for my future self. The tooth had been wiggly for a while and the adult tooth was already poking through a fair bit. The poor kid was dealing with chomping down on the loose tooth for a while. The dentist suggested that for Ethan, we keep his baby teeth in as long as possible in order to guide the adult teeth in properly. Because of this, we didn't really do anything to try and help the loose tooth out earlier. For the boy who loves to eat, I have to stay that there were many meals with tears when he'd chomp down on the tooth because it was in an unfamiliar spot. Finally one night the tooth was so loose that Ethan had had enough. He did very well and just kept wiggling, and wiggling it until it came out. Unfortunately, he doesn't have that super cute gap tooth smile because the adult one is already in it's place. Ethan doesn't really care though. All he was excited about was the thought of the tooth fairy coming to visit.