Our first celebration of Christmas this year involved spending almost a week at Grandma and Graddad's house, leading up to Christmas morning being celebrated on December 23 (the one day my 5 siblings + spouses could actually be home for the holidays). The entourage spent lots of time playing with their relatives, reading books, playing with all the toys--especially the Little People town--and exploring the playground and woods outside. We had so much fun, and we seriously wore out the entourage!
Animals
I realized that over the course of the week we learned alot about animals. The major event was a trip to the science center, a large portion of which is a permanent exhibit of taxidermied animals. While the girls had fun identifying animals and a few skeletons and getting to feel a few samples of fur, they were very disappointed that there weren't more "alive animals." Throughout the day Monkey and Bug and I had long discussions about dead vs. alive and why and how those animals were dead. They are still confused about why anyone would want dead animals, and I defnitely had some trouble trying to explain that one. One of the temporary exhibits the girls enjoyed was actually about trees, but they spent the whole time exploring a "treehouse" that talked about what animals made their homes in trees and included lots of animal noises (photos on the floor you could step/jump on to get them to make noise). (The center also involved a kids section with puppets, blocks, bean bag games, etc. that they had fun with).
Bug in particular really, really wanted to see alive animals, so the next day we got Aunt A (the resident biologist) to be our guide in looking for alive animals in Grandma and Graddad's woods. Although the only alive animal we actually saw was a huge earthworm--highly entertaining--we saw alot of signs of alive animals: tree stumps where beavers had been logging, deer paths and deer tracks, and mole tunnels. We also helped Aunt A look under rocks in the creek for any critters.
Back at Grandma and Granddad's house the entourage had the everyday learning experience of dealing with a 30 lb. sheepdog who would have loved to get more up close and personal than they were confortable with. Monkey and Bug were just beginning to gain confidence in telling her what to do, but poor Goose came away more traumatized than anything else due to the dogs multiple attempts/successes at licking her--she's frequently covered in food; it's just too tempting! (I now know what Goose's distinct "I'm scared" cry sounds like!). She came home and acted afraid of our cat whom she's always been fascinated with. Fortunately, a brief intentional reintroduction soothed all fears (at least from Goose's side; the poor cat is still scared of kids). Monkey and Bug also got to spend time watching and feeding Aunt A's snapping turtles--she has two that she picked up in the woods when they were babies and has kept for years in aquariums in her room.
Music
The entourage had a blast playing Aunt E's baby grand piano. This was Goose's first time to encounter a piano she could actually play, and she is a huge fan! Aunt E even helped her play it with her feet, which she thought was hilarious.
One afternoon Grandma pulled out the video of The Nutcracker, which the girls were enthralled by--especially since this version involved their Aunt K dancing the parts of one of the Chinese dancers and one of the butterflies (angels in many versions).
Christmas morning was also musical: among their other gifts they received a glockenspiel (very popular) and a CD of kid's party music from around the world.
Chrismon Tree
One of my family's Christmas traditions in going to see the Chrismon tree--not one like the little one in our living room, this is a 20 foot tall cedar covered in impressive handmade ornaments from all over the world. Honestly, I don't think the entourage paid much attention to the ornaments this year, but they had a grand time chasing each other around (crawling, so they weren't moving fast and getting underfoot) and playing with a music box behind the tree. At least I got to gather inspiration for our own tree.
Christmas Morning
Christmas morning at Grandma and Granddad's is not a rushed, tear-open-your-gifts affair. We start with stockings that the adults fill by spending $1 or less per person. Then breakfast involves singing Happy Birthday to Jesus around a coffee cake/birthday cake. Next to help the entourage kill time waiting for all the grown ups to be ready to open presents, we had Monkey and Bug sort the presents into piles. They told us what letter the recipient's name started with and we helped them figure out whose name it was. The entourage then attempted (with minimal success) to learn patience as we went around the room opening one gift at a time. Fortunately, they opened a few books and puzzles to play with to help keep them occupied.
The next day, the real Christmas Eve, we headed back to our house. To be continued . . .
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