We went to the Santa Claus parade this weekend with my best friends and had so much fun!

He said

This week was one I was looking forward to all month. It brought us the first weekend in a month or more where I was off all weekend with Danielle and Emelia and we didn’t have somewhere else we needed to be – as in we didn’t have the weekend booked off with purpose. Two days off back-to-back and on a weekend sounded like the perfect thing to do, given that we’re headed into the holiday season and one of the busiest times of year.

We did have one thing that needed to be squared away this weekend and that was getting Wolfie to her winter home for hibernation. As much as we wistfully say goodbye to the camping season with this task, I do relish the driveway space we regain with it. We snuck the summer tires for both the Pilot and the Mini into the trailer and got it out and put away in winter storage as soon as Emelia’s swim class wrapped up on Saturday. That gave us the rest of the afternoon to spend putzing around town window-shopping, looking for some design ideas for some things we want to do around the house in the coming year. Emelia has full-on become her mother in that she loves watching home renovation shows and going to places where she can dream up redecorating ideas. True to becoming a Mini-Mummy she relishes storage solutions the best.

After we spent enough time and footsteps window-shopping, it was time to get home to get some dinner before heading downtown to take in the 2016 edition of the London Santa Claus parade. We hadn’t told Emelia anything about it in case the weather wasn’t kind or our plans fell through. But the day was beautiful and we couldn’t think of anything better to be doing as a family. Of course when we asked her if she wanted to go, her first question was if the twins (her besties) were going. We knew they were thinking about it but we weren’t certain. We got home, got Emelia some dinner and loaded up my flask with some adult-warming-beverage and we were back downtown awaiting Santa’s arrival in record time.

Of course Emelia ran the inquisition about whether the twins were coming and when we finally got her resigned to the idea they may or may not, she settled in to just enjoy the night. Along with the tons of other kids, Emelia kept herself entertained by running in the street, doing cartwheels and checking if she could see the parade-start. After about twenty minutes of that, a familiar set of voices called out Emelia’s name and there were the twins! They were all over the moon to  be catching the parade together and suddenly Emelia was less likely to get bored. We lined up the blanket, made spots for all the kids and had a great time.

The parade this year wasn’t overly long or overly short—it was just the right length. And this year they did a far better job of remaining close to the projected times. The kids were happy to get candy canes from the Fire Department and all hollered their wishes to Santa at the end of the parade. And with or proximity to the parade route and where we chose to watch, we were home ten minutes after it wrapped up which also was far better than previous years and other parade watching vantage points. Emelia was showered and in bed contently asleep in short order after getting home.

We all slept in a bit today… well Danielle & I did, but Emelia got up and was quickly encouraged to go downstairs and entertain herself if she wanted to be up before 8:00 am on a day we didn’t need to be anywhere much less out of bed that early. The rest of the day was about taking it super easy. We had a couple of errands to run and before we knew it the twins were calling on Emelia and they were off to a playdate together. Danielle and I were able to get the last bit of fixings to make a recipe I found on Pinterest for a Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup and we spent the afternoon crafty with Emelia and the twins and then when they went home making the soup which turned out fantastic (and unsurprisingly Emelia didn’t want to try).

As much as she is being a pain right now, dragging her ass to clean up all the many things she’s be paying with today and trying to avoid practicing her spelling for her test tomorrow, it truly has been a great family weekend – one that I think we were really needing. We got to do a lot of the things we really enjoy and the best part was we got to do them together as a family. It came at the perfect time because with the festive season quickly approaching, we’re all about to get real busy, real fast. It will be the moments like this that remind us what it’s all about.

She said

The closer the holiday season gets and as the weather drops it instantly puts me in organization and declutter mode. Well this year is no different. I am in daycare planning mode on how to keep 5 small children happy and learning for the long winter months. What this involves is far more ‘stuff’ in my house than I would like. It also means I need to get even tighter on my organization of the house to accommodate a large number of people, a large number of items in a small house. Add in the fact that I am would prefer to have about ½ the stuff we have in the house on a regular basis this time of year I get twitchy and that means purge, and organizing.

After we got Wolfie to her winter home we asked Emelia what she wanted to do, well for Christmas this year from Santa she wants a desk in her room to do homework, craft and create. With the daycare kids here she cannot really leave out any projects because well they will touch them, and second we use our dining room table for so many things including feeding the kids, Emelia’s homework, the kids and Emelia’s crafting zone, the kids learning amongst a million other things. So Emelia wants a desk. Her room isn’t tiny but it isn’t really that big. So what this has meant is that we are now searching for more options to change the storage she has in her room to accommodate another piece of furniture in an already packed room.

So on the way home from putting the trailer in storage we stopped at the Ikea pickup location to see what options we might find. Since this is a tiny store front and not a real store the options were limited but it did give her some ideas as to what she wants to do to get this room moved over more and more to a tween room. She has her desk and chair picked out from Santa, she has added some accessories she would like for her birthday or Christmas. While we were there we looked around for some much needed storage solutions for the rest of the house. Storage in a small century old house is always limited so we are always trying to find ideas.

After puttering around a ton of stores we told Emelia about the parade and that got her motivated to get home and get supper in her tummy. With everything together we made our way downtown. At this time we were still not 100% if we would be able to meet up with the Carters but we set ourselves up in the front row and waited for the festivities to start. After a bit of waiting we heard someone screaming ‘Emelia’, and turned around to see the twins and their family running towards us. With everyone happily together the real fun could begin. The girls happily played together while we waited for the parade to start. An amazing time was had by everyone and this annual tradition going to the parade with great friends continues.

Today was to be a lazier day, we had little on the agenda other than some cleaning around the house and a craft project that Emelia and John had planned. Emelia and I were out in the yard getting some work done and then we heard the delightful screams of the twins scootering over to our place, and the plans for the day shifted. Emelia spent much of the day with the twins, first at their place while John and I got a couple errands done, and then back here so the girls could do some messy crafts. The day flew by and with the Carter girls back home Emelia could help her daddy with their craft creation while I got supper going. Supper turned out amazing and we are now settling in for the last of the weekend. I have a bit more to do and then I am going to grab a glass of wine and veg with John and enjoy the rest of our lazy weekend.