Storytime With Santa

Also for the first time this year, I was able to book a spot for Philip to have Storytime with Santa at Sherway Gardens. I never realized how popular this event was until I tried to get a spot last year and they were gone before December even hit! Needless to say, I came earlier this time and Storytime didn't disappoint at all. Santa read a few stories to the kids, had a pretend snowball fight with his elves, and sang some popular Christmas songs like "Jingle Bells", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and a new twist to "5 Little Monkeys" called "5 Little Reindeer". All in all, Philip had a great time although he was a little uncooperative when it was his turn for the photo op. Thanks Santa for joking with him until we got some reasonably good ones! :)

The Santa Claus Parade '10

We decided to take Philip to the Santa Claus Parade for the first time this year. We started off the day by having Sunday brunch with the gang at the Hot House Cafe and we then joined my colleague Sue's family for the actual parade. Sue's family goes all out every year with custom-made hats and this year the theme was fireplaces. I lost track of how many times paraders would walk by and say "nice hats"! The best part, other than the floats, had to be when the celebrity clowns came around and we had a silly string fight! Philip absolutely loved it and it made for a very entertaining afternoon. Sue promised that if we sat with her that we would get a lot of attention and she couldn't have been more right. Thanks for saving us awesome seats and letting us join in your family fun! It looks like we may make this an annual tradition with the Connor family now and even partake in their hat-making sessions too! hehe. :)

Ellen's First Birthday

Time flies so fast when my little niece Ellen is already a year old! Daniel and Ami had a party for her at a Chinese restaurant and we celebrated the happy occasion with a traditional 10-course meal. Happy 1st birthday, Ellen, and we hope you enjoy your gifts. Pretty soon Philip won't be able to call you "baby Ellen" anymore! :)