I'm a pretty big fan of starting Christmas festivities over the long Thanksgiving weekend. So (the) Friday morning (after Thanksgiving) we sent Reid, Nell, Ben, and my Dad out to Wild Rose to cut down our Christmas tree. It worked out perfectly for several reasons. 1) Our new van doesn't have a utility rack so we would have had to take Ben's car no matter what, but our new family of six doesn't fit in the car and 2) I probably wouldn't have wanted to take baby out there anyway. Hopefully by the time next Christmas comes around we'll have a hitch on our van and little trailer to put the tree on and our full family can resume this beloved Christmas tradition. I'm glad my dad got to do it with at least half of my little family this go around.
(picture from Ben's phone)
Back in Oshkosh, my mom and I did a little shopping. It was still pretty busy even though we waited until about 10 am. Neither of us are big shoppers, but there were some items we needed to get (like the sodas I forgot to stock up on before they arrived).
That evening I'd planned on taking my dad (who always enjoys museums) and the two big kids to the Nutcracker display at the Paine Art Center. Every year they turn the old castle into a replica of the Staulhambum house. I've wanted to go ever since we moved here, but figured I could wait until my kids were old enough to tag along and enjoy it. Just before we were about to leave my mom decided to come as well. I think my read aloud of the description from the website convinced her.
There are 70 different decorated Christmas trees throughout the castle and we got to see them all on a self guided candlelight tour. There are also about as many nutcrackers on display in Herr Drosslemeirer's workshop. Those were equally as breathtaking and beautiful.
For the kids the most exciting part of the tour is the mouse hunt. Each room has several different mice hiding throughout the display and there is a map that tells you how many to find. Reid and Nell both loved that. The final event of the night is to go and enjoy a cupcake and hot cocoa with the Sugarplum fairy in the stable.
(picture from Ben's phone)
Back in Oshkosh, my mom and I did a little shopping. It was still pretty busy even though we waited until about 10 am. Neither of us are big shoppers, but there were some items we needed to get (like the sodas I forgot to stock up on before they arrived).
That evening I'd planned on taking my dad (who always enjoys museums) and the two big kids to the Nutcracker display at the Paine Art Center. Every year they turn the old castle into a replica of the Staulhambum house. I've wanted to go ever since we moved here, but figured I could wait until my kids were old enough to tag along and enjoy it. Just before we were about to leave my mom decided to come as well. I think my read aloud of the description from the website convinced her.
There are 70 different decorated Christmas trees throughout the castle and we got to see them all on a self guided candlelight tour. There are also about as many nutcrackers on display in Herr Drosslemeirer's workshop. Those were equally as breathtaking and beautiful.
For the kids the most exciting part of the tour is the mouse hunt. Each room has several different mice hiding throughout the display and there is a map that tells you how many to find. Reid and Nell both loved that. The final event of the night is to go and enjoy a cupcake and hot cocoa with the Sugarplum fairy in the stable.
We all walked away talking about how enjoyable the evening was. The adults were all craving turkey sandwiches after our super sweet and super huge cupcakes. Nell did ask when we were going to see the Nutcracker. I had to laugh and tell her that was it. I think she was a bit disappointed that it wasn't the live performance. Maybe one year my little Boopsie Bops.
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