I was thinking over the holidays as we packed things up this weekend and decided on putting together a Top 10 list of things the girls noticed and/or were interested in this holiday season.
10) Christmas songs- we didn't even know the girls knew most of the Christmas songs until they would randomly start singing their own versions of The 12 Days of Christmas or Jingle Bells.
9) Advent banners- my friend's mom made the girls Advent banners when they were babies. We've used them every year and the girls looked forward to seeing what presents or activity was awaiting them each day.
8) Inflatable decor- the girls LOVED when people had those inflatable snowmen, snow globes or Santa in their front yards and memorized which houses had them and were so sad when we would drive by during the day and they were all deflated. It was surprising and exciting each night when we drove by again and they were magically inflated again!
7) Happy, our Elf on the Shelf- this year not only did he hide each night after he returned from the North Pole, but he also brought the girls goodies for the start and end of his time with us. This made his presence all the more special to the girls. They were quite proud when they found him each morning.
6) Movies- Any and all Christmas movies were interesting to the girls this time too. Of course, we had to watch their Princess Christmas DVD (though I think total they only watched it 3 times this year, considerably less than the dozen or so times from previous Christmases), but we also watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Mickey Christmas and Polar Express.
5) Santa- I already posted on our Santa train ride, but more than ever Santa was a topic of conversation this year. In fact, a few days before Christmas, at bedtime Lucy asked Kevin how Santa was going to get in since we don't have a chimney. It was so cute to hear her worried about logistics. We reassured her that Santa can get in and sure enough, he did!
4) Ornaments/tree decorating- the girls helped decorate Nana's, ours and Grandpa & Grandma's trees this year. They loved checking out each ornament before we hung them up and almost everyday Olivia would inspect our tree and ask me who hung particular ornaments. If it was one that I had hung she would thank me for hanging it up. Sometimes she would trick me and quiz me on ornaments she had hung up. Tricky kid!
3) Letters to Santa- the girls found it imperative that this year Santa know exactly what they wanted. Twice we wrote Santa letters. They even told Happy what they wanted. It also became a Sunday morning ritual for the girls to pull out the Target, Kohls, Sears and Toys R Us ads from the paper and sit and go through them page by page making us circle the items they wanted or needed. I think Santa did pretty well.
2) Lights- the girls loved Christmas lights. In fact they would request I drive home different ways at night so they could see different lights/decor. Our favorite exclamation was the first time Olivia saw a house with tons of lights and shouted, "Look at that light explosion!!"
1) And the most favorite holiday thing this year was the carriage ride at the Mission Inn. The girls had such a good time that night and Kevin and I also had so much fun just seeing their huge smiles and they took it all in. Every little princess dreams of riding in a carriage.
10) Christmas songs- we didn't even know the girls knew most of the Christmas songs until they would randomly start singing their own versions of The 12 Days of Christmas or Jingle Bells.
9) Advent banners- my friend's mom made the girls Advent banners when they were babies. We've used them every year and the girls looked forward to seeing what presents or activity was awaiting them each day.
8) Inflatable decor- the girls LOVED when people had those inflatable snowmen, snow globes or Santa in their front yards and memorized which houses had them and were so sad when we would drive by during the day and they were all deflated. It was surprising and exciting each night when we drove by again and they were magically inflated again!
7) Happy, our Elf on the Shelf- this year not only did he hide each night after he returned from the North Pole, but he also brought the girls goodies for the start and end of his time with us. This made his presence all the more special to the girls. They were quite proud when they found him each morning.
6) Movies- Any and all Christmas movies were interesting to the girls this time too. Of course, we had to watch their Princess Christmas DVD (though I think total they only watched it 3 times this year, considerably less than the dozen or so times from previous Christmases), but we also watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Mickey Christmas and Polar Express.
5) Santa- I already posted on our Santa train ride, but more than ever Santa was a topic of conversation this year. In fact, a few days before Christmas, at bedtime Lucy asked Kevin how Santa was going to get in since we don't have a chimney. It was so cute to hear her worried about logistics. We reassured her that Santa can get in and sure enough, he did!
4) Ornaments/tree decorating- the girls helped decorate Nana's, ours and Grandpa & Grandma's trees this year. They loved checking out each ornament before we hung them up and almost everyday Olivia would inspect our tree and ask me who hung particular ornaments. If it was one that I had hung she would thank me for hanging it up. Sometimes she would trick me and quiz me on ornaments she had hung up. Tricky kid!
3) Letters to Santa- the girls found it imperative that this year Santa know exactly what they wanted. Twice we wrote Santa letters. They even told Happy what they wanted. It also became a Sunday morning ritual for the girls to pull out the Target, Kohls, Sears and Toys R Us ads from the paper and sit and go through them page by page making us circle the items they wanted or needed. I think Santa did pretty well.
2) Lights- the girls loved Christmas lights. In fact they would request I drive home different ways at night so they could see different lights/decor. Our favorite exclamation was the first time Olivia saw a house with tons of lights and shouted, "Look at that light explosion!!"
1) And the most favorite holiday thing this year was the carriage ride at the Mission Inn. The girls had such a good time that night and Kevin and I also had so much fun just seeing their huge smiles and they took it all in. Every little princess dreams of riding in a carriage.
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