The Beginning of the Christmas Season

This past weekend we officially began our celebrating of Christmas '08 - a very Christmas special season full of friends, family (we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newest family member any day now from Aunt Brenda and Uncle Geof) and traditions.

Last year Christine and I started our tradition of making a gingerbread house together and we finished this year's entry on Saturday. Christine was an excellent co-decorator and managed to keep the nibbling to a minimum - her brother on the other hand was a sugar-fuelled monster. He disappeared for awhile and you can see from the picture below what kind of trouble he (literally) got into.

Sunday afternoon we all bundled up and headed to Streetsville for the annual Santa Claus parade. Even though it was quite chilly and we had to wait a bit the kids were in fine form and had a great time. Here's a shot of Ben and kids looking down the street to see if the parade was starting.
And here is a picture of the Dash Man who despite his valiant attempts was unable to escape his Dad's clutches - Ben cleverly designed a lead for Dash to be attached to (I hesitate to use the word "leash") as it is virtually impossible to hold his hand successfully while he's wearing his winter coat and mittens.

And here's a shot of Christine jumping up and down while waiting for Santa. Of course once Santa was in view she became scared and tightly closed her eyes and cried - I can only wonder how our trip to visit the big guy in person will go this Friday...update to follow shortly.