Christmas Eve

This year we agreed to host Christmas Eve dinner at Casa de Fein, with the stipulation that we would be forced to use folding tables and folding chairs as we don't have a proper dining room table and can't seat 15 people at the kitchen table. Michael's family was of course very agreeable to this arrangement but this left me mulling over decorating ideas for weeks... I decided I had to have enough Christmas stuff to detract from all the folding contraptions.

Last year I picked up a good bit of stuff during after Christmas sales but this new house is so darn big that it needed more. I had to pull out the big guns. The morning after we landed from Florida, I threw the kid in the car, picked up the dog from the dog ranch and pulled into a tree lot and got the tallest, fullest tree they had left... for $20! It turns out waiting to get a tree six days before xmas has it's advantages. I asked the guy to strap it to the roof of the car with twine, which he agreed to do but told me in broken English that it "should" hold if I drive slowly. So we meandered 20 minutes home instead of the usual ten and arrived without an eight foot tree flying off the roof of the car. Tree - Check.

I immediately went to work decorating it only to realize that we had never had a tree that big and therefore did not have enough lights. Again, I threw the kid into the car and ran to the store to buy the last five boxes of lights at 75% off. Procrastinating is awesome. Lights on Tree - Check.

Next the ornaments went up, followed by the nick knacks, brick bracks, figurines and other crap. Miscellaneous Holiday Spirit Crap - Check.

For weeks I had this idea of hanging garland around the ceiling of the dining room so I made a late night run to the craft store and bought some at 75% off along with four green tablecloths and more miscellaneous stuff. Decorative Garlands - Check.

Prior to our vacation I had started this awesome project and managed to finish off the embroidering a couple days prior to xmas. I had visions of it looking less lumpy but when you give things in boxes, lumpy it will be. I want to give credit to the tutorial I found that saved me $25 making it myself, plus I made it bigger and personalized it. Santa Bag - Check.

We squeezed in a playdate with Gavin on Thursday and his mommy had her Christmas Village up and it gave me the gusto I needed to pull mine out of storage and finally put it on display (PoPo gave them to me years ago). It turned out pretty well and gave me the Christmas Village bug, now my mom wants to start slowly funneling all her village pieces to me... she has a garage full... literally. Christmas Village - Check.

This is Christopher the Elf. Same idea as the elf on the shelf many parents invite into their home, but I think Christopher is less creepy looking then some of the "realistic" looking elves. Harrison thought it was fun to find him in a new hiding place every day. It's a good thing I wasn't too tired at the end of each day to ensure that elf remembered to move himself. Elf to ensure good behavior - Check.

Many dozens of Raspberry Pinwheel Cookies later, the remaining few that did not go to friends were left out for Santa, along with some celery for his reindeer. Remember all that raspberry sauce I ended up with in July? Turns out that I could add some pectin, re-cook it and put them in the cookies. Auntie Chyna our hard work did not go to waste after all! Treats - Check.

In the end, Christmas Eve was nearly perfect and the house looked wonderful. I would like to clarify nearly with this quick story. Our oven broke in early November and we got it fixed in early December. I baked a zillion cookies, several dinners and on Christmas Eve a Chocolate Cake with no trouble. Three hours later, Michael went to put in the roast and the oven was broken. He ended up shuttling two trays of roasts to our neighbor's house to cook and we ate an hour late. Quite funny really. Although I am still dealing with getting the oven fixed.

Yes, I know it sounds like I just did a lot of complaining, but my family was really happy which in turn made me one happy mama.

A Very Merry Disney World Christmas

Much to the delight of Grandmama, the Fein family traveled to Disney World along with all of Michael's family (Dreslaine, Steve, Hugh, Alexis, Stephan and Rae Ann). Eight days felt like sixteen as we went to a park in the morning, returned to the Tree House for nap time and then went out again at night. We had a couple late nights at parks as we enjoyed special extended hours as well as Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Team Fein had oodles of fun but we were all happy to return home in time to set up the Christmas tree and throw up decorations the week prior to Christmas.

This post is certainly going to be 95% photos but a couple quick notes first. Harrison LOVES meeting the characters and getting their autographs and posing for pictures. One evening in Epcot, he met three princesses in a row and had lipstick kiss marks on both cheeks and on his forehead! The photo didn't turn out well but we won't forget that visual! During these visits, Harrison got really nervous and started pulling up his shirt. Snow White laughed at this and said she has a belly button too, so he showed his tummy to all the lovely princesses he met for the rest of the trip.

Harrison loved going on rides, however a couple rides were a little scary for his toddler constitution so he started to tell us he wanted to go on "nice rides" only. Harrison's favorite "nice rides" were Peter Pan, Dumbo, Aladdin's Magic Carpet, Flying Triceratops in Dino Land, and the Three Caballeros (in Mexico, Epcot)... we rode the last one a minimum of five times. A ride he enjoyed in the Animal Kingdom (but told me today he didn't want to go on again) was the Kali River Rapids, a rafting ride were the riders typically get soaking wet. Michael took Harrison to a cast member for measuring to see if he cleared the 38" height requirement... Harrison just barely grazed the bottom of the stick so they let him ride. Mommy didn't ride it for fear of getting soaked therefor was able to get some good photos.

 Another bright spot for Harrison were meals with characters. We kicked off the trip enjoying breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and friends and ended the trip lunching with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. He managed to eat between jumping up and down with Disney ecstasy.

Ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom

"Up" characters Doug the dog and Russel

Remy, the rat from Ratatouille, squeaked to us and moved!

Three Years of Santa Photos

2009

2009

2010

2011

2011 Annual "kids" photo

Leavenworth

Dad had a great idea to take a quick trip to Leavenworth, Washington. A two hour drive over the Cascade Mountains drops you into a lovely little Bavarian town that strives to make Christmas time especially magical. We had looked into going during Christmas 2008 while I was 8 months pregnant but decided it was best to stay put. Last summer a trip over the fourth of July was cancelled when great papa has a medical emergency. Visiting Leavenworth this year finally relieved years of anticipation!

Harrison enjoyed hugs from fun characters, including Santa Claus and Father Christmas, whilst we strolled by shops and sampled different foods.

 

There was only a bit of snow on the ground but Harrison did his best to make snow balls and play with whatever he could scrape together. When there is a lot of snow, kids can sled down little hills and even the main street which closes to traffic this time of year.

After sundown (that's about 4:30 in the northwest!), there is a processional, choir and music prior to a climatic lighting of all the lights on the downtown shops and all the trees in the park.

Thank you daddy for a wonderful idea, we had so much fun together as a family!

Thanksgiving in Las Vegas

Tuesday evening we battled pouring rain and heavy traffic and made it to our gate just as they started boarding. All was well for the next week as we enjoyed sunshine, 70 degree weather and lots of family fun. I must be getting lazy though becuase I neglected to take many photos. 

Thanksgiving at Po Po's house was delicious and we dutifully overate to heart's content. Even Harrison had third helpings of turkey and multiple servings of cranberry sauce (a new favorite). This year we tried out a recipe for blueberry cranberry sauce - I mention it becuase it was fantastic and I think I will want it every year here on out. So let it be known, 2011 was the year the tradition originated!

Growing up in Las Vegas, I was always interested in all the bright neon signs, especially the ones that moved, such as Vegas Vick and his thumb beckoning you to come in and gamble. Las Vegas recently opened up a park where you can enjoy a guided tour of the boneyard, full of old neon signs from the earliest days of the town, so we went for a visit. Harrison was pretty bored but mom enjoyed it (while dad sacrificed any chance of watching the Huskies play, and beat, the Cougars in the Apple Cup - thanks dad).

 The giant skull was from the Treasure Island when it was still pirate themed and family friendly.

 

 The "R" from the Sahara Casino which was right around the corner from my house growing up.

The stars from the Stardust casino which was the last place my grandfather worked. I have memories of going to grandpa's office, he would give us a deck of cards and he would take our whole family to the rib restaurant where we got to eat for free. Evidently this was the biggest sign of it's kind when it was built.

As soon as we got to grandpa's house, Harrison found himself among several large bags and uncle Jon Jon threw him and his hair immediately began to stand on end!

Traveling on the freeway parallel to the Strip, Harrison found one place to be more fascinating than any other... the giant Excalibur castle of course! He begged us saying, "I want to go there!" and the third time we passed it we promised we would go that evening. Harrison was pleased with the experience, which included a random 5 foot tall Spongebob Squarepants figure he could hug.

The best part of the trip was Harrison and his cousin Argenta being able to play together and become friends. The last time they met she was only 9 months old but she is now almost two years old so they played together a lot each day. He calls her 'Genta and gave her lots of hugs and kisses throughout their time together. One day I walked into the living room to find the two of them, alone, sitting side by side on the couch, watching a movie on the iPad (which Harrison can operate by himself). He got to be the big guy and set an example for her (both good and bad), urging her to use the potty more and getting her to wear socks becuase he was wearing socks. She is the sweetest little girl, we all love her so much!

Jon had a great idea to take a short drive and enjoy a leisurely hike in the Valley of Fire. I hadn't been there since I was probably ten and we all agreed it was beautiful, even better than Red Rocks. The walk was extra leisurely with Harrison climbing the boulders ("I'm climbing mountains mama!") and laying belly down on the path to feel the soft red sand on his skin.

Remember the post about Harrison at Halloween in the zoo roaring at the lions? Well, he climbed up on a small boulder and took it upon himself to roar/scream at the top of his lungs several times over. Funny kid.

The last activity we were able to enjoy as a family before we started heading home was a dinner at Buca di Beppo's where we got talked into letting them take a "free photo" of all of us which surprisingly turned out so well grandpa bought a copy. And thank goodness as it the only photo I have with more than 3 people in it! The pretty blonde in the front middle is a friend of Jon's from MIT who stayed with us for three days, Carline was a lot of fun to have and so sweet with the kids.

 

While we enjoyed our busy visit, we were ready to go home by day seven. Harrison had experienced a week of toddler debauchery, awake until 10:30 most nights, up at 6:30, playing with Argenta and watching movies on the iPad much more than we would normally let him get away with. Harrison misses "my whole family" but we talk about everyone and he can point out where everyone lives on his map of the U.S. Hope to see everyone again soon!