Christmas Eve!!!

As you get older, it seems that the excitement about Christmas changes.  It's all brought back though when you have kids around! and this year Miss E was old enough to be excited.  Miss F was just excited about the decorations.

In our efforts to make sure Miss E understood why we were celebrating Christmas (the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ) we realised we had not once mentioned Santa to her.  She knew who Santa was - had seen him in the shops and in her cartoons etc, but she didn't realise he brought PRESENTS!!! Nor did she realise he came on his magical REINDEER and snuck into the house! How could we have missed this!  We filled her in.

We managed to make our very first gingerbread house (from a kit, don't get too excited) on Christmas Eve. Miss E was very much into eating the lollies.

We started a tradition this year of Elves bringing some 'magic' pyjamas to help the girls sleep so Santa could come.  Miss E, like every other 2 year old, is smitten by Frozen, so naturally her pj's were of Elsa and Ana. Miss F couldn't care less, so she got whatever was on sale :)

A fun tradition we started a few years ago, was to buy take-away dinner on Christmas Eve.  This year we had a picnic in the living room! The simple things are often the best.

Santa loves fruit mince pies, and Miss E LOVED leaving them out for him!  Some special reindeer food was also sprinkled out on the driveway.

Off to bed for a 'deep' sleep so Santa could bring the presents!

Christmas Traditions

Christmas came and went and I had big plans for so many fun traditions this year (well last year now). Maybe it was the freak storm at the end of November that threw me, but we were able to settle on a few traditions that we would like to continue as our family grows.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

The Tree goes up on December 1st, that's a given.  And lucky too, because the storm hit the week before (when I thought I might be nice to put the tree up) and smashed all of our front windows and blew the house into disarray!   So I think we'd better stick to December 1.

We usually have yummy drinks and snacks to help us along as we put the tree up.  This year our dear friend Brother Swaine was there to lend us a hand.  So we drank sparkling apple juice, ate chocolates and fruit mince pies as we listened to carols and decorated the tree.  The girl's loved it!

Cassata Ice-cream cake.

This is one we have been doing for a few years.  A good excuse to eat ice-cream and lollies! We make it early December and then EAT it throughout the month :)  In years past we have shared our first slice with these lovely people.  But this year they were overseas, so we sent them this picture instead.

Fruit Mince Pies

This has been a tradition in the Leicester family for decades, and one that will be passed down for sure! The famous Leicester Fruit Mince Pies.  They should be famous - they are DELICIOUS.  We take in turns making the fruit mince and sharing it amongst the family, then we're left with the task of baking at least 10 dozen throughout the Christmas season to use up all the mince.  The pastry frustrates me every year.  I've yet to get it right the first go, but they are definitely worth the effort.

Christmas Eve pyjamas.  

We thought we'd give this one a try this year.  The 'ELVES' left them during the afternoon on Christmas Eve.  E was excited to shower and put them on, especially because they were 'Frozen' pj's.  It didn't really encourage her to bed any earlier, but she also didn't really understand Christmas yet this year.  I think next year will be a lot different.

Nativity Scenes

We were so fortunate to be able to buy a number of beautiful nativities whilst we were in Prague earlier in the year.  These are the first 'decorations' we put up.  The Sunday before the tree is the day for Nativities and we explained to Eadie what Christmas was all about.  It's a lovely tradition we have started for our family.  And because we now have so many, and even one the girls can play with, they will always be constantly reminded of the true meaning of Christmas.

There are lots of little things I try to do during the lead up to Christmas that don't need to be traditions (because let's face it, that's a lot of pressure to keep up with each year!) So during December we try to: donate to the Kmart wishing tree; deliver goodies to the neighbours; go to carols at least once, somewhere...anywhere; do an advent calendar (very poorly this year) and enjoy the season!  If we get some of that done, I am happy!

European Road Trip

Our 3 weeks in Europe was amazing! Most of the time was spent in Prague with Mal and Judy, but we managed to sneak in a little road trip in the middle of our holiday.  I'm so glad we did!

Sam hired a car from downtown Prague and managed to get himself a traffic fine before he even left the street! haha - apparently driving in a 'no-pedestrian zone' is not allowed!

Driving on the opposite side of the road, in Prague, on windy, narrow streets, is a little hair raising! And when your GPS device decides to run out of battery  only an hour into the trip (after taking you in the wrong direction) it can get a bit frightening.  However, we managed to secure a map before long and were on our way....in the right direction!

Sam had the driving under control once we hit the autobahn.  The speeds had me holding tight, but I finally relaxed...on the second day :)

First stop - Frankfurt, Germany

We had time for a quick walking tour of Frankfurt.  We found the Theater and some dinosaurs!  There was also a fun fair on in town but we didn't have time to stop and enjoy.  There was so much to see and so little time.

Next stop - Cologne, Germany

We weren't in love with this city, but perhaps we were staying in the wrong part of town.  We had some time to explore the Cathedral and visit the Lindt factory :)  YUM! Dinner here was great - Hamburgers!

Destination - Rotterdam, Netherlands

We arrived early afternoon in Rotterdam and it was beautiful.  It actually reminded me of home for some reason.  We stayed with friends here for 3 days in their tiny apartment which they had only just moved into 2 days before! So kind of them to let us stay.

We took a trip by train (45 mins) to Amsterdam.

It's such a fun place to visit.  The weather was gorgeous and the scenery amazing! We wandered aimlessly for lunch and settled on a cafe serving open sandwiches.  It was pretty nice.  The markets were happening in town but in our haste to find lunch we didn't spend time there.  They looked amazing though! (Turns our Rotterdam had their own AMAZING markets that we went to the following day, so we didn't miss anything).

We found some delicious ice-cream too! My advice, if you see a store you like, STOP!  You'll never be able to find it again. :)

Rotterdam

We took some time to go to a local park.  It was AMAZING! so green and open and huge.  It even had a Petting Zoo, but we arrived too late for that.  The kids had fun playing on the nice green grass with NO ANTS!

We loved our time in Rotterdam with Bonnie, Damien and Harry.  It was sad for us to leave.

We had a long drive today and took advantage of the fact that the girls were very tired and willing travelers today!.  We drove 9 hours with only one stop!  Brilliant.

Final Stop - Dresden, Germany

If we had known how beautiful this city was we would have arranged to stay longer.  Thank goodness for long summer days and daylight savings! We had time to explore for a few hours.  We found an overpriced restaurant for dinner, with sub-quality food, but other than that, LOVED Dresden.

 
From Dresden it was only a short drive back to Prague, where we still had about a week left to enjoy!

Our Prague Adventure

Earlier this year we were blessed to be able to spend a few short weeks in Prague.  What a beautiful city!  We were visiting my parents who have been serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  They will be finishing up soon, so it was great to have the opportunity to see them and the amazing city they have been living in.

Taking 2 young girls on such a long journey was not at all enticing, but they couldn't have been more perfect.  We had a wonderful time and saw so much.

Here are a few highlights from our trip:

1.  Spending time with these two.  

 

They were so generous to us and we loved spending a few weeks with them.  They are the perfect tour guides also!

 

2.  Wenceslas Square.  

 

We would walk down this square most days on our way to explore the city.  It was right by where we were staying.

3.  The Food.  

 

The food is Praque is AMAZING!!  and so CHEAP!!  We over-ate...all the time, and we finished most days with an ice-cream, right outside the apartment.  I didn't actually take a picture of the ice-cream store, but it was divine. 

4.  Random parks in the city.

This was perfect for miss Eadie, who,  despite being very willing to be dragged everywhere sightseeing with us, still needed some time to play.  It helps to have a 'local' with you to help find these hidden treasures. 

5.  Prague Castle

We ventured here a couple of times.  Only a short tram ride from home, and so beautiful.  Not the best place to take a pram, but we managed!

 

6.  Charles Bridge

Very popular and a must see.  Despite walking past it many times during our stay, we only actually managed to walk onto it on our second to last day.  It was pretty long, and crowded, so we didn't even walk the whole way across.  These pictures are from both ends of the bridge.

7.  Prague Zoo

An amazing zoo, but not a lot of fun on a really hot day.  It's built on the side of a mountain so there were lots of hills to climb.  A good excuse to eat ice-cream though :)

8.  Petrin Tower 

This was a great place to go to look out over Prague and then only a short walk to Prague Castle.  Again, we had our trusty tour guides to show us the way.

 

 

9.  Swans on the Vltava River

These swans were hiding out right near the Charles Bridge.  We took a secret passage down to the banks (along with our tour guides) to take a look.  We couldn't actually feed them, but it was great to watch them.
 

10.  Karlstejn

We loved this little excursion.  We took the train to Karlstejn and then took the horse and carriage up to the castle.  If you ever go, take the horse and carriage!  It is such a steep and long hill to walk up.  Everyone has to walk back down, but why walk up too?!

Our time in Prague will be cherished.  I only wish the girls were old enough to remember.  One day when we are rich and famous we'll have to go back!

We also took a little side trip to the Netherlands.  Next post coming soon! 

Then there were 4

A year between posts isn't too bad...is it?

Well, now we are a family of four!  Our second daughter Frances was born on April 1st.  We are going to have fun with that when she is older. 

Time is really getting away.  She is nearly 3.5 months old already! She is a delight though and we love her to bits.

The best way to catch up on the year we've missed is with pictures, so here is a snap shot of the past year.

They grow too quicly.

We are off on an adventure to Prague in less than 2 weeks.  Let's hope there is a blog post to follow :)