Every Friday, it’s now a tradition for Aiden to bake with his Babby during their weekly visit. After one cookie baking session, Aiden started to ask to bake cookies again within minutes of her appearance in hour home. Now, he’ll even ask ahead of time to bake something in particular. Last Friday, he wanted to make cupcakes. He was inspired by one of his Hide and Seek books that showed a picture of chocolate cupcakes with pink icing – that was his request.
In the end, he chose to make cupcakes with blue icing, but the result was the same – a very happy Aiden!! He absolutely loves baking with his Babby. Such special memories!
Christmas with Aiden this year was one of the most fun Christmases I can ever remember. I was seriously unsure whether we would have much of a Christmas given that Christmas Eve was a horrendous mess with Aiden in bed 2 hours early. Although his croupy cough resolved quickly, I have never seen my good-natured little man so unhappy – not even as a colicky infant. It was hard to deal with and hard to watch. We spent most of our time watching tv, but he didn’t really even want that – he didn’t want anything. Poor Aiden.
Thankfully, after 4 hours of restless sleep, he settled into a long restful sleep and woke up chipper and happy for Christmas. He was a true gem all day, loving all the attention and presents. I think he would have been happy to stop after a present or two and just play, but we pushed on through.
We started our Christmas morning at home, with Oma coming over right away. We started into the presents at a leisurely pace, but then had to rush through more than half the tree in order to make it to my Uncle’s for brunch. I think next year we’ll cart off some presents to continue over there rather than rushing.
Our day was filled with family and joy. There’s nothing quite like watching your toddler explore Christmas in all its various traditions. Presents aside, it made me giddy to see him connecting with others in our family and sharing his immense joy in life with them. Toddlers are just bundles of excitement and it’s hard not to be infected by all the fun.
Aiden sort of understood Santa, in that he would bring presents, but I don’t think he really *mattered* this year. Still, we had many weeks of obsessive reading about Santa, particularly with The Polar Express. We read the book, watched the movie (except the middle – Aiden required that to be fast forwarded) and listened to the audio book in the car. Over and over and over.
How was your Christmas? I hope it was filled with infectious joy!
Today we took Aiden out to Squamish to board the Polar Express 2011 run by the West Coast Railway Association. Just like the book and movie, the Polar Express invites children young and old to board a train to the North Pole. The 60 minute train ride includes some of the story over the speakers (sadly, a little too quiet), a cookie and hot chocolate (huge hit) and the singing of Christmas carols.
The train doesn’t go very far during the ride (my geek of a husband tracked it) and made stops during food delivery, but all the kids seemed quite happy with the ride they did get. If you go in the afternoon as we did, it will be getting dark just as you return.
After the train ride, you stop at the North Pole, set up inside the Roundhouse, which is a great open space featuring a few trains to look at as well. There were lots of crafts set up, a gift shop, and a little coffee shop. The line to visit Santa takes some time, but it’s worth it. A visit to Santa brings the “first gift of Christmas” – the reindeer bell. Totally awesome.
Included in the coach ticket is a lanyard with the Gold ticket, the train ride with goodies, access to the North Pole to visit Mr. & Mrs. Claus, one ride on the mini train and access to all the crafts set up on site. Though seating is first come first served, it didn’t appear to be an issue for anyone. The first class tickets, sold out for the year, also include a free collectors mug with the assigned seats.
Next year we will read the story (which we bought there) and watch the movie before the ride too, to really get into it. Even without that, Aiden had a downright fantastic afternoon. He was thrilled with every aspect, even if he didn’t want to sit on Santa’s knee. When asked what he wanted for Christmas, to tell Santa, Aiden said “apple,” then “treat,” both of which we can easily manage. He rode the mini train (huge for him), and was heard to say “Bye Bye Santa” as we left. See all our photos here.
Tips for families: Lots of people got into the spirit by wearing PJs, but do bring warm clothes to put on top. Also bring your camera, as you’re encouraged to snap your own shots with Santa (save on mall Santas?!). I was kicking myself all afternoon for forgetting our SLR. Next year!
Disclosure: We received one adult and child pass complimentary, but paid for the additional two passes.
While we were in Hawaii, we treated our Moms to a special dinner out on the Royal Sunset Dinner Cruise from Atlantis Adventures across the shores of Waikiki. The two-level boat takes you on a trip along the Honolulu and Waikiki while serving a 5-course dinner alongside some entertainment. The cruise is 2 hours, ending at 7:30, so it’s a great chance to catch the sunset – we took advantage of the setting for some nice photos, as you see.
The dinner included an appetizer (shrimp for us), salad, whole Main lobster, a meat dish (beef tenderloin for us) and dessert. The price of the cruise comes with 3 cocktail tickets and children’s meals are available (they gave Aiden a chicken dish). I was not blown away by the food, but thought the menu could use a little tweaking. In particular, I was very disappointed that their “roasted garlic mashed potatoes” were most definitely from a box – icky. The lobster was a little dry, but that’s common and I still really enjoyed mine. The beef wasn’t great – I would have preferred a steak, which was advertised on part of the website (though the menu does rotate).
The entertainment of the night included Hawaiian music and dance throughout dinner. There isn’t a huge amount of space for entertainment, but they made the best of it and Aiden loved watching the “dancing girls.” I am not a huge fan of audience participation, as I find vacation hotspots get cliche with their targeting of newlyweds and anniversaries and the such, with inevitable stunts. Then again, I know many people like that stuff.
Warning: even if you’re not prone to sea sickness, bring something just in case. We found that walking around with Aiden to keep him occupied (which was not super easy since most of the space was taken up by tables) caused a little sea sickness. They had an on-board store where we were able to get some relief.
As noted in my review of our hotel, we spent most of our trip in Hawaii at the pool. I, for one, read three books during the trip (The Hunger Games trilogy) thanks in part to all the time spent poolside. Although Aiden was at first a little unsure about the water, particularly the ocean, it took mere minutes for him to warm up to the idea.
Our first day, he went down the toddler waterside a dozen times or more at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Other days he practiced jumping into the water, each day jumping with much less hesitation. He loved wearing his water wings and after a few days was floating on his own and letting his legs float back. He was even able to make some forward momentum with his kicks – the start of swimming!
It was pretty exciting to watch Aiden learn so many new things in the water. He spent most of his time swimming with Oma (“Oma turn, Oma turn”), but we all had a chance to see him in action. Here are a few of the videos we took:
All that time spent swimming in Hawaii was a great way to get Aiden warmed up for swimming lessons, which he resumed the week after we returned. He still doesn’t love getting his head wet or floating on his back, but he enjoys his class.
The dinner included an appetizer (shrimp for us), salad, whole Main lobster, a meat dish (beef tenderloin for us) and dessert. The price of the cruise comes with 3 cocktail tickets and children’s meals are available (they gave Aiden a chicken dish). I was not blown away by the food, but thought the menu could use a little tweaking. In particular, I was very disappointed that their “roasted garlic mashed potatoes” were most definitely from a box – icky. The lobster was a little dry, but that’s common and I still really enjoyed mine. The beef wasn’t great – I would have preferred a steak, which was advertised on part of the website (though the menu does rotate).
The entertainment of the night included Hawaiian music and dance throughout dinner. There isn’t a huge amount of space for entertainment, but they made the best of it and Aiden loved watching the “dancing girls.” I am not a huge fan of audience participation, as I find vacation hotspots get cliche with their targeting of newlyweds and anniversaries and the such, with inevitable stunts. Then again, I know many people like that stuff. 
