We have had exceptionally cold and snowy weather all week in Seattle. The boys have really enjoyed the snow, but school has been canceled every day this week (including yesterday when not a single flake of snow fell in the city) and everyone is going a bit crazy from being penned up in the house. This past weekend we played in the snow with the boys and helped our friend Jen (aka Antigen) decorate her first ever Xmas tree. That was great fun--lots of laughing, yummy treats, and a vigorous snowball fight in the backyard.
The previous weekend we took our annual pilgrimage on the Santa train to visit the jolly old elf. The Northwest Railway Museum puts this event on every year and they do a great job--they decorate the vintage passenger cars, lead carols on the train on the way to the depot, and upon arrival they serve hot chocolate and cookies on a WW I era kitchen car. The kitchen is amazing--it's got the most overbuilt stove I've ever seen, it is solid iron and coal-fired. I'd never seen actual coal being burned in a stove before, and it's pretty surreal. It literally looks like burning rocks! After the refreshments the boys had their turn with Santa. I think Lochlan was either a bit overwhelmed or freaked out because that is not a normal expression for him.
The day after the Santa train we drove up to Everett to dig out Xmas tree out of some lady's yard. This is actually not as random as it sounds; Amy found an ad on Craigslist.org for "you-dig" live Xmas trees. You see, another of our holiday traditions is to get a live tree, decorate it and use it for the duration of the season (doing our best to keep it alive) and then planting it in one of several ecological restoration sites around the city. However, live trees are expensive and this was a considerably better deal.
Just a few days left until the big day! The level of excitement in our house is approaching fever pitch.
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