Meeting Isabelle

Marina has been anxious to see the new American Girl Doll of the Year. On New Year's Eve, we got the new catalog featuring Isabelle, a ballet dancer. That's when Marina got really excited.

Last year we went to the American Girl store on New Year's Day to check out Saige. There was a line out the door and we had to wait outside for a while before we could even get into the store. This year New Year's Day was cold and snowy, so we decided to wait a bit so it wouldn't be as crazy.

Marina decided to bring Kailey along. It was a beautiful day and they wore matching dresses. When we arrived at the store this afternoon, it was pretty busy in the store, but not packed. We enjoyed looking over Isabelle's collection - she has some very pretty clothes for girls to match their dolls. Marina was also happy to pose with the cut out they had as well.

As always, Marina loved looking around the store. She always finds plenty of things she likes.

After we left the American Girl store, we went into the mall to check out the Disney Store. I was surprised to see that all Frozen Elsa costumes are completely sold out. I was so grateful we bought Marina's costume when we did!

We ate lunch in the food court and looked in the Lego store before heading home. I'm sure we'll be back many times this year!

Frozen on the First

Since I had the day off, Marina and I decided to see the movie Frozen again. We invited her cousin Michelle who is in town for Christmas break and Uncle Mike. Their friend Jessica joined us as well.

Marina spent most of the day on her new tablet, so it took come convincing to get her dressed. She immediately decided to wear her Elsa costume. She also dressed Kailey in the Merry and Bright outfit so they looked alike.

We decided on a theater that also had a restaurant. So we arrived early and to have lunch. Apparently we were very early because we had to wait in line for the theater to open. When we went into the theater and found our seats, we were approached by a man who worked there. He was so excited by how she dressed that he offered to buy her dessert. Marina was thrilled!

Marina and I split a sampler platter and we were pretty full by the time the movie started. I think we both enjoyed it more the second time around. Michelle and Jessica, who hadn't seen it before, liked it as well.

As we left the theater, it was snowing outside. I asked Marina if she was making it snow, just as Elsa did in the movie. She thought that was silly. It seemed fitting.

Christmas Eve at The Nutcracker

We've seen The Nutcracker the past few years at Christmas time and Marina was anxious to see it again this year. We've been so busy all month that we were not able to fit it into our schedule before tonight. But it seemed like a fun thing to do on Christmas Eve.

Marina wore her Christmas dress to the show today. She also brought along Kailey, an early Christmas present. They dressed in matching dresses and looked so cute together!

We were running a bit late for the show but were in our seats when the show started. Marina paid particular attention to the party scene at the beginning. Her ballet teacher had taught the class some choreography for this scene. Marina pointed out to me that what the dancing they did on stage was "wrong."

The scenes with the mice and the rat king were pretty silly this year. Marina said they were all "ridiculous." But I think she enjoyed them.

At intermission we had a snack and sat in the lobby for a while. Marina also looked around at the items they had for sale. It actually took some convincing to get her back to her seat for the second act.

Marina was looking forward to "The Waltz of the Flowers" and "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." When she and her partner took the stage, Marina noted that the music was wrong. She was pleased when she heard the familiar music for "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."

When the show was over Marina was ready to head out. I think she was tired from all the Christmasing we've been doing lately.

Santa Hike

After going on the Santa hike last year at the Wildlife Museum, Marina was anxious to go again this year. So we were both disappointed when the only one we could attend was sold out. We got on the waiting list and were delighted that we were able to go after all. Marina decided to bring Saige with her, although she carried her in a tote bag this time.

We were treated to hot chocolate and the chance to toast marshmallows as we waited for Santa. Marina made a s'more and toasted a marshmallow for me. I thinks she liked toasting them better than eating them.

When Santa made his appearance, all the kids got excited. Before the hike started, he handed out Santa hats to the kids. Again this year, he took us on a tour of the animal statues around the building. Each child got a chance to hold his walking staff and sleigh bells. We learned about eagles, moose, elk, bears and many other wild animals

Once the hike was over, Santa graciously posed for pictures with each child. Marina volunteered to go first and was happy to sit on his lap for a picture.

After the hike, we went into the Museum to look around. It's been quite a while since we've been there. We saw a demonstration with live sugar gliders. Then we checked out the temporary exhibit on glowing animals. Marina particularly liked an example of how lightning bugs talk to each other.

Next we went into the regular exhibits. Marina decided to do the scavenger hunt. She picked the beginner level. Clearly this is too easy for her because she breezed through it. I'll have to encourage her to try intermediate next time.

We ended the day in the play area. Marina found several kids to do the activities with. It was quite a job to drag her away!

I'll Have Zoo Christmas

We always have so much we want to do in the Christmas season. We had wanted to go to Zoo Lights a few weeks ago, but the weather was frigid cold. So we decided to go this evening. Marina debated on what to wear, but she finally settled on a generic princess dress over her regular clothes.

It was pretty crowded at the zoo when we arrived. We grabbed a parking spot that was a bit of a walk from the entrance, but we were grateful that we were able to find one quickly. We were also able to avoid the huge lines for the tickets by buying them at the membership desk.

It was a chilly night, unlike the gorgeous weather we had at the Blossoms of Light last week. We stopped for hot chocolate pretty early on. The lights were spectacular this year. Marina actually posed in front of many of the displays, something she doesn't always like to do.

When we reached the "North Pole" area Marina insisted we see Santa. The line wasn't too long and it moved fairly quickly (plus much of the line was in a heated tent), so we decided to wait. Marina had quite the conversation with Santa when it was her turn.

Once our visit with Santa was over, we went on to see the rest of the lights around the zoo. It was pretty crowded, so we couldn't see as many animal exhibits as we wanted to. We did go into the tropical animals exhibit. It was nice and warm inside there!

By the time we made it all the way through the zoo we were ready to go home. It was cold and we had done a lot of walking. 

Christmas Fishes

After a wonderful Breakfast with Santa at the Aquarium last year, we had to go again this year.We invited our friends Chuck and Judy to come with us. We were all looking forward to it.Marina, as usual, chose to wear her Ariel costume. We even added body glitter and sparkly eye make up to her ensemble. She topped it off with her pink princess Santa hat. She brought Saige along in her mermaid costume as well.

We arrived a bit early so we all had settled into eating our delicious breakfasts before Santa arrived. We were all amazed at how much Marina ate. First he made the rounds to all the tables. Just like last year, when he arrived at our table the mermaids showed up in the tank behind us. We had a wonderful view of them swimming. Chuck and Judy were especially thrilled.

After visiting each table, Santa and one of his elves took a dip in the tank as well. We had a huge group of kids around our table for quite a while. But it was fun!

After breakfast, we went on a trip through the Aquarium. We missed the first mermaid show, but halfway through we saw the mermaids being wheeled out to their meet and greet location. At that point, Marina didn't want to do anything but see them. So, we quickly went through the rest of the exhibits to their spot.

When she got her turn to pose with the mermaids, they all loved Marina's costume and looked Saige's outfit over closely.

We had tickets for the 4D theater, so we headed to see the shows. They were showing short films based on Ice Age and The Polar Express. Marina loved them.

We went back into he Aquarium. The sea otters and the tigers were quite active, so we watched them for a while. Marina took video of several of the exhibits. We also got to see the mermaids' holiday show.

After we finished our second trip through the Aquarium, we were tired and ready to go home. It was a great start to her Christmas break!

Belle and Blossoms of Light

Marina and I have never been to the Botanic Gardens "Blossoms of Light" during the Christmas season. This year, we were determined to see it. We've both been struggling a bit lately, so I thought taking some time today after school and work would be good for both of us.

It took a while for us to get there and when we arrived, the parking lot was labeled as full. We decided to try anyway and were rewarded with a spot that a car was just backing out of. We were so lucky!

Marina dressed up for the occasion by wearing her Belle Enchanted Christmas costume with a cape. She looked beautiful and got many compliments throughout the evening. She was clearly thrilled with them.

The lights were beautiful. We followed the designated walkway through the gardens that we're very familiar with, yet they looked more magical. And they had wonderful names like the Enchanted Forest and the Twinkling Passage. Marina skipped from place to place and gave a pretty spin every once in a while. She enjoyed posing for pictures, so we took lots of them.

 

On the way home, we stopped for hot chocolate and a snack. We still had some homework and other things to do, but it was wonderful to get out and have fun for a while.