We have had many discussions on how we are going to celebrate Christmas without family to celebrate with. This year was the year to be at my parents place. We will be having a much quieter Christmas here without 5 boys and 1 little girl all under the age of 8 running around. We will definitely miss all the commotion, excitement and company of family but will not be missing the drive. The plan is to keep it simple.
As December approached, we were trying to figure out where one goes to see Santa. Aiden expressed concern about Santa finding him and was hoping to sit on his lap and let him know where he is so that he doesn’t get missed. Also hoping for a photo or two. We searched the local paper to see if it gave Santa’s schedule for the weeks that lead up to Christmas but did not see anything. We decided to check with the locals to find out what the big guy is up to in the next little while.
It appears that around here, sitting on Santa’s lap is not that big of a deal. When I inquired with a few of the local mom’s, they said the closest one that they knew of was in Horsham, about an hour North. This could be partially due to the fact that there are not any malls around. The two closest towns have a downtown-shopping district.
So last weekend we were lucky enough to finally track down the big guy. It is amazing with his busy schedule and all that he will be at the mall in Horsham for a few days. We paid our $9, Aiden sat on his lap, told Santa what he wanted for Christmas and a picture was taken. Took all of about 5 minutes but Aiden left with a big grin on his face and was set for the rest of the day. Sean and Aiden checked out the Horsham pool while I frantically finished the Christmas shopping.
Christmas is in full swing in the stores. Christmas carols playing, Christmas wrap and cards everywhere, toys out front and centre and extended shopping hours. A couple of weeks ago, we went into Ararat and arrived about 12:30 and stopped for lunch, then headed out to do our shopping. Sean headed to the local bike shop and Aiden and I to the local department store. Sean was quick to return. It seems that most of the small shops that are family run close at noon. Makes sense – this way they are able to spend some of the weekend together as a family. We were fortunate enough to find a few larger stores that did not only rely solely on family members and bought the items on our list. Aiden asked what we were going to do about a Christmas tree since there were no spruce trees around. We teased him that we would go and find a gum tree to bring into the house and decorate it. We don’t actually live right in the Park so there should be no worries cutting down one! Aiden thought maybe a cactus would do the trick, one like Grandma Kay decorated for our Christmas celebration before we left. Sean said he didn't really think we needed one. Both Aiden and I vetoed him so after splurging and spending $12, we are now the happy owners of a 120 cm fake Christmas tree.
Aiden and I have been busy making all sorts of decorations for our tree. Our tree is a mix of traditional and non-traditional decorations consisting of popcorn strung on a string, paper loop chains, paper trees and snowflakes, candy canes (paper and real), bows made from ribbon, smiley faces, flowers, animals, pretty much anything that Aiden has drawn or made in the past two weeks is now hanging on our tree. Aiden is insisting that it has to sparkle more, the glitter on the decorations don’t appear to be enough, so we broke down and bought a small string of lights. It is a very pretty tree. I must say perhaps the prettiest one we have ever had.
Since we made the journey up to Horsham to catch a glimpse of the big guy, we have found out that he is making an appearance in Halls Gap. Last night was Aiden’s end-of-year school concert and he showed up there after a stellar performance by all the kids. The concert was “Spiderella”, a musical bug play based on the classic story of Cinderella. Spiderella had four wicked ladybug stepsisters who tried to prevent her from going to the Christmas Beetle Princes’ ball. The fairy god moths came to her rescue and provided her with a lovely outfit and a carriage drawn by four flying ants, and off to the ball she went. After a special evening of dancing with the handsome cricket, the rolly polly bug and all the little dung beetles, Spiderella ran off at the stroke of midnight, loosing her 8 glass slippers in her haste. It was all good in the end with the prince tracking her down with the slippers and they all had a very merry Christmas. It was an excellent play; the teachers and students put a huge amount of time and effort into it and the kids put on a fantastic performance.
With the hustle and bustle, not to mention the 30-degree weather of late, it has felt more like mid summer than Christmas in many ways. But the spirit of Christmas has shone through with the smell of fresh gingerbread, Christmas carols, and the excitement running through the kids, and we have now all been infected. We hope that all our family and friends are sharing this feeling and the warmth of it is overpowering the winter storms we are reading about. Rain and wet weather has driven the temperature down here the last few days, but we can’t complain about low teen temperatures. The rain has allowed the cancellation of fire standby giving people here more freedom and time with their families, which is a luxury they haven’t had the last few years with the busy fire seasons.
Season’s greetings to all and may 2008 bring much happiness, adventure and fun to you and your family.
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