the shortest day

Winter Solstice brought us the opposite of cold, dark, and turning inward. The sun shone strong and clear, the temperatures soared to record highs, we ran around all day without jackets. Totally not traditional, yet totally fabulous. We took advantage of every moment of the brief hours of glorious daylight. It felt like the story All Summer In A Day.

I think if we can have days like this every 2 weeks, all winter long then everything will be ok.

winter greens

Zach and the neighbor girls decided to do a little elfing around the docks. They went wandering around the woods and neighborhoods that surround the marina clipping evergreens. Three kids, three clippers... things got a little snip-happy. Sorry holly and pine trees. I tried to encourage them to only snip a few low hanging branches.

So with all that greenery the kids spent an afternoon making evergreen swags for neighboring boats who are here for the winter.  They divided the branches by type, and then went about it assembly line style, collecting small bundles and then tying them off with twine and finishing them with a big red bow.

I should have a photo of the lovely swags hanging on boats around the docks, but with the 15 minutes of daylight we're experiencing these days, I keep missing it. Oh well.

cocoa party

December is one big month of sugar coated fun around here. Even though Hanukkah squeezed itself into Thanksgiving week, we still have plenty of reasons to celebrate this month from St. Nicholas Day to Solstice to Christmas and New Years and every other day just because.

We decided once the bubble was up and decorated to have a hot cocoa party for the kids and Zach's friends in the marina. Basically an excuse to eat lots of sweets.

We set out fixings like candy canes (some dipped in dark chocolate), marshmallows, cinnamon sticks, and nutmeg. And then we made huge batches of hot cocoa (we like to make it with milk and unsweetened organic cocoa and then sweeten it with honey.) Finally, we blasted cheesey holiday music into the cockpit speakers and let the kids go a little crazy.

Funny, ever since then they haven't been begging for cocoa every morning.

white stuff

It snowed. Not enough to cause trouble but enough to make the kids happy. We watched from the warmth of the bubble as the first flakes started drifting down on to the water.

I have been under the weather, so it was a convenient excuse for me to stay inside with a cuppa tea while Doug took the kids out in the snow. I have to say, I much prefer having the cocoa warm and ready and hearing all about the snowmen and sledding from my rosy cheeked kids rather than having to go experience it in the cold.

Much of the snow melted fairly fast, but the temps have plummeted and the water around the boats is starting to freeze. It's an odd feeling waking up to the scratch and thud of ice hitting the hulls. Zach and his friends have been having a ball using boat hooks, nets, sticks, anything they can find to smash the icebergs off the docks. It's amazing how much time they can kill in an afternoon just breaking and playing with ice.
Oh to be young and warm blooded!

 

Bubble Time

The shrink wrap man came... just in time.

This year we happened to be home when they came so the kids got to watch the whole thing. Zach remembers it from years past,but it was all new for Naia. She was totally unphased by strange men climbing all over the boat and using plastic and flames at close proximity. I swear nothing scares that girl.

The best part is getting an extra room just in time for cabin fever. Zach can get away from chatty little sister even when the weather is bad and crawl up in the wee corners of the bubble. She could climb up there too, but I promised him I would not blow his cover and reveal the secret hang out.

And since bubble time slams right into holiday time, the lights go up right away.

Now we look like a huge, sparkly, psychedelic jellyfish or something. But we're warm and dry-ish, so it's all good. Bring it on winter! (well, kind of, ya know just a little.)

Thanksgivukkah birthday extravaganza

Some cruel twist of calendar fate placed Doug's birthday, Hanukkah, and Thanksgiving in the same week. We don't make a huge production out of any of these celebrations, but we do something. And doing them all in a row... phew. I need a vacation.

Latkes, birthday cake, turkey dinner, dreidels, balloons, cranberries and more latkes. My head is still spinning. I would like to officially declare that Hanukkah falling before Thanksgiving is just wrong.

We thought we could squeeze in one more sail, but the weather has been a bit wet and raw and it looks like we are done for the season. Time to start turning inward and focusing on the task of keeping little people busy indoors.

I keep mumbling to myself, "I will not let winter get me down. I will not let winter get me down." Trying to break up the weeks of January and February on the calendar with fun outings and plans so I am not left sitting inside in a funk. A wise friend once said to me, there is no bad weather, just bad clothing. I need be a good little scout and just prepare. More woolens, more layers, more wine.