Advent Activity Calendar Round-Up

Molly and I had a great time with her Advent Activity Calendar! This is definitely something I see us continuing for years to come.

I did learn a few lessons from doing this though. One important lesson is to BE FLEXIBLE! We changed a few activities at the last minute due to pregnancy fatigue, sickness and weather. It happens! We also had to curtail some of the activities due to Chicken Nugget's early arrival. I also decided that we'll leave out the chocolate next year. It gave Molly a weird rash on her chin and I think she missed out on connecting some of the activities with the calendar due to her love for the chocolate.

You can see the whole set of Advent Activities on Flickr.

Seattle Sheraton Gingerbread Village

Last week, Molly and I took an adventure downtown to the Seattle Sheraton to see this year's Gingerbread Village. This is the 21st Annual Gingerbread Village and it is always a delight to see. This year the theme was Nursery Rhyme-inspired castles. The Gingerbread Village benefits the JDRF Northwest Chapter, an organization committed to curing Type 1 Diabetes.

Molly was fascinated by the gingerbread village and even jumped one of the ropes to attempt licking one of the gingerbread houses. Luckily I was quick enough and snatched her back in time, otherwise she would have licked them all! That caused a bit of a heart palpation for me!

We went with one of our PEPS friends and her son thought the houses were so neat! He tried to go through the line a second time but by the time we were finished, it had grown way too long to go again.

The houses were crazily ornate and so awesome! If you have time to stop by and check out these houses, I'd highly recommend it. It was a quick and fun activity for us but one that I think Molly will be talking about for days. 

Advent Calendar Activities

I've always loved the idea of the Advent Calendar and now that I have a 2-year-old, I'm really into this idea. I knit the Smitten Advent Calendar Mittens this year and decided to fill them with chocolate and activities. 

Initially I was going to just fill the mittens with chocolates but then a friend (with a toddler and a newborn) said she was going to do activities and I decided I couldn't go the lazy route. Really the activities are the cool part of the advent calendar along with all the memories we'll be making! (Thanks for the inspiration, Kelsey!)

I'll be cataloging our activities in a Flickr Set which has already gotten off to a fun start! 

Advent Calendar Activities

1- Visit Swansons Nursery  to see the Reindeer

2-Make Cinnamon Ornaments

3- Draw/Color a picture of Santa Claus

4- Make a Christmas Card for Teacher Janice

5-Make Christmas Treats for the neighbors

6- Visit Westlake and Watch the Christmas Carolers

7- Visit Santa Claus and Watch the Christmas Ships

8- Have Dinner with Ruby and Check Out the Zoo Lights

9- Make Christmas Cards for Grandparents

10-FaceTime with Grandpa B for his birthday

11-Make Paper Bag Reindeers and Eat Reindeer Poop (Chocolate)

12-Sing/Play Christmas Music

13-Visit the Sheraton Gingerbread Village and have lunch with Daddy

14- Visit the Greenlake Pathway of Lights

15- Drive Candy Cane Lane to look at Christmas lights

16- Listen to a reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas

17-Drink Hot Cocoa at Starbucks

18-Watch Christmas Monkey (Curious George) Movie

19-Take pictures of Christmas Tree Lights with Mommy's Camera

20-Make a Paper Garland

21-Have a Holiday Adventure with Daddy

22- Visit the Bellevue Botanical Garden Christmas Lights

23-Buy Christmas Cookies for Santa at Larsen's Bakery

24-Christmas Eve Church Service