Christmas in NYC

We took an afternoon off and headed to Manhattan to see the sites at Christmastime.  After the lights at Temple Square, I was expecting the Big Apple to have been on a much larger scale of festiveness.  I was a bit underwhelmed at how little the city was decked out.  Still, it was a fun outing together in New York City.

The weather was very mild and so we started our adventures in Central Park.  The kids loved the playground and thought that the tunnels were just like the subways they were dying to try out.

The subway was all they had hoped for.  They loved that it was underground and rocked all over.  The rest of the afternoon was spent answering C's non-stop queries of what else we had to do before we could ride the subway back to the car.

Some of our stops were Rockefeller Plaza,

Times Square

and the displays at Sak's 5th Ave (a slightly odd story you could follow through all of the windows about a little girl and bubble machines next to evening wear).

One of our favorite parts was the light show on the Saks building across from Rockefeller Plaza.  They had a big countdown and then they made it look like the windows on the building were opening up and you could see inside where bubbles were being made.  The kids thought it was especially cool. 

O Christmas Tree

I convinced Q to put aside his anguished feelings about chopping down a tree that had worked for 6 years to become big and beautiful, and to let us get a real Christmas tree while in Connecticut. I do feel some guilt thinking that our little buddy only has a month left, but gosh it has been wonderful. And we had such a great time searching for the perfect tree.

 

It was an amazingly sunny day, the trees were on a beautiful farm, and everything was made so easily accessible that it was exactly the type of tree hunting to do for this age group!


We wandered until we found the tree surrounded by a halo of light, tried to convince the kids to look around at all of the other types of trees, and then gave up and headed back to our initial find.


There was a moment of complete despair when C found a stump and was sure someone had taken our tree.
 

Luckily, no one thought that it was as perfect as we did, so Q sawed it down and we brought it home.

We had lots of help decorating

and G was pretty excited about the finished tree (minus all of the lovely Christmas cards that we've been receiving) -- now if only we can get him to look, but not touch. 

Christmas Book Countdown

Along with the advent calendar, we started a new tradition of the Christmas Book Countdown.  Each night, we unwrap a new book, and then we read it by the Christmas tree.  There is quite a mix, since most of the books come from the limited offerings of our local libraries, but we're getting a nice preview of books that we might add to our personal library in the future.

Our wrapped stack is shrinking, and our basket of unwrapped books is starting to overflow.  It has been a fun way to have Christmas books around the house this year.

Nativity

I loved the idea of a more Christ-centered take on gingerbread house building. The kids had a great time getting sick on candy and creating some adorable nativity characters. L came up with the sheep, and I also loved her take on Mary's "old fashioned" ponytail.  C and I had fun with the wisemen. Q built the stable and added the sheep droppings.  Little G tried to eat everything in sight and make a mess. 

 I think next year I'll have to give them more types of candy to work with.  It was a fun advent activity that I think is going to make our permanent countdown to Christmas.  C keeps asking when we get to eat it.

Campus Tour

Since coming to New Haven, I'd been wanting to do an official tour of the Yale campus. During Thanksgiving when my sister was here, we were able to go and learn all sorts of interesting things about the university.  For instance, ALL incoming freshman are assigned to a College that they are part of for their entire undergraduate studies. 

Each college occupies a building that opens out into a private grass courtyard, and students share a study lounge and eating hall.  So essentially, they live, eat, study, and socialize with their College.  It reminded me quite a bit of Hogwarts, except they are randomly assigned to their college. The architect (who was believe to be a bit loony and genius) created everything to look Modern Gothic.  His great desire in life was to build a Gothic Cathedral, so he convinced the school to allow him to make the main library a Cathedral of Knowledge.  

The circulation desk even looks like an altar. 

  It was a fun tour and I left feeling connected to the campus where Q spends his days.