Catching Up With Christmas Pt. 4: Santa and Winterhaven

'Twas the week before Christmas, and things were finally, gradually settling down. Lorelai was out of school; the presents were all wrapped; packages all mailed; the treats all delivered; the errands all done; Nate's vacation time fast approaching. Now it was time to wait just a little longer...what to do??

First, we had to finish off Celeste's preschool class for the year (her class ran a week later than Lorelai's charter school). The preschool had a small Christmas party, complete with treats, a gift exchange, and this adorable song the kids performed for the parents:

I especially love that Aurora "inserted" herself into the musical number while I was filming, even though she had no idea what was going on! Thankfully, she wasn't too intrusive, and none of the other parents seemed to mind!

The girls and I also managed to kill another afternoon a couple of days later...

...we visited the Tucson Children's Museum with some friends!

Playing in the "ambulance"...

Manipulating electric current...

Drawing on screens with laser lights...

Studying body parts "up close"...

Posing with robots...

...and playing with air currents here, there...

...and everywhere! I kind of wish we had this setup on our back porch...the kids would never tire of it!

Normally, I don't pay full price for the Children's Museum, but it turned out pretty well. Usually I visit on the "discount days," and the museum is usually very crowded and noisy. On this day, most of the local kids were still in school, and the museum felt more inviting. The girls had lots of fun playing with their friends, and we ended up spending about two and a half hours there...about twice what we usually spend!

Then Saturday arrived, and the whole family was together for the holidays at last. What to do? Nathan and I decided to have a Christmas-y evening, by visiting "Santa," and then heading up to Winterhaven, the Tucson neighborhood famous for its lovely holiday light displays.

We found our "Santa" in Tucson's Park Place Mall. The girls (who believe in Santa more than we'd like them to) had been begging us to see Santa this season, and so far we'd missed all his appearances closer to home. So we decided to brave the mall crowds and wait in line to see the jolly old elf. The line, thankfully, wasn't too long...and there were some cute distractions to make the wait more bearable.

There was a mailbox that spewed out "magic snow" onto the girls...they loved it and asked to do it over and over again!

There was also a "Naughty/Kind" meter the kids could activate, to determine how they'd been good this year. Two things: 1. What happened to "Naughty/NICE?" It sounds sooo much better; and 2. The meter showed the exact same score for every child! The game is rigged, I tell ya! I would have paid good money just to see one kid be labeled as "naughty"...

Anyway, the girls were pleased to see "Santa"...and a jolly-looking, real-bearded Santa at that! Celeste had written Santa a note at home, but forgot to bring it with her to the mall. Lorelai helped whisper some of the things on Celeste's list back to her, so she could tell Santa:

Our time was short, and as we left, poor Celeste was crestfallen with the fear that Santa didn't get her whole message...

At least we were able to go out to dinner afterwards. That cheered her up quickly!

With full bellies, we went as a family to Winterhaven. I've blogged about this neighborhood before;  however, this was the first time in a few years that the whole family went along. Unfortunately, it was not the best night for Nathan; it was a warm night and a weekend, which meant that it was pretty crowded and noisy. Plus, it seemed to me that fewer houses were putting up decorations than in past years...I found out later it was because several homeowners had experienced problems with theft in the past. For shame, Tucson! Is nothing sacred?

So, our night at Winterhaven was a bit rushed. But it was still enjoyable overall...and there were several lovely homes with clever displays!

It put us all in the Christmas-y mood...a good thing, since Christmas was mere days away!