We spent Allison's 2 weeks off school at my parents new house in
Boxall, Ontario. Nathan had to work the whole break so it worked well
for us to travel.
We spent a lot of time with family, we had one big snow day, we shopped, we cooked, we had a great holiday.
Allison with her jumbo Kinder Egg that she got from our family friend, Debbie.
My SIL, Shelley, took the kids to Flying Squirrel, a trampoline park in London, ON for a day of fun.
On Christmas Eve, we went to Fraser and Shelley's house for appetizers and family fun in our pajamas. When we got home we read Christmas stories in bed and waited for Santa to arrive.
We exchanged our family gifts before we left Kansas City but Allison got a few special treats from Santa while in Boxall. Allison has really struggled with a belief in magical things because she has a few classmates who are adamant that those things aren't real and further that is it babyish or silly to believe. Once we were away from KC, she started to ask me questions about believing and asking if we could keep it a secret that she still believed. She was so sad that she thought she wouldn't get anything because she had said she didn't believe.
I'm glad she came around, they're only little for such a short time.
Scarlett took this photo of Allison and I on Christmas Day with her new Polaroid camera.
My friend, Becky, stopped in with her two kids. I haven't seen Becky in 5 years but we picked up right where we left off. I'm so glad she stopped in. The kids got along great and we had a wonderful (too short) visit.
Martin, Marlene, Heather, Ian, and the kids came for a Sanderse Christmas while we were home. We exchanged gifts, chatted, and watched as the kids explored the farm
Allison's favorite part of our Canada trips is her many trips to Tim Horton's. This is their Christmas donut, a Rudolph donut (chocolate dip donut with a sprinkle Timbit in the middle).
We were invited to go to an open skate at the Port Stanley arena. Allison really wanted to skate but she was shy and asked if I would go on the ice with her. I haven't skated in a long time, but Shelley offered me her skates and out I went. We made it without any broken bones, although my ankles were killing me by the time we got off the ice.
This was our kid day, a day when the cousins came to spend the day at the farm. Here are the kids enjoying a meal at the kitchen counter.
After lunch the kids spent some time outside and some came back muddier that others.
After a generous gift from a family friend, my Mom and I were able to go to the Keg for dinner. We invited my friend, Ashley, to meet up with us when she was done work.
The Keg has delicious steaks (and I rarely eat red meat) so it was special treat.
On our last night, the entire family went to a London Knights hockey game. Allison really enjoyed it and managed to sit in her seat the entire game.
As a special treat, my parents bought the girls this LOL Doll mega package. They opened it on their "Cousin Day." It was a day where they got to play together all day and stay up as late as they wanted. Allison made it til 11pm.
