Christmas is Victoria - Evan's Santa Visit

Early in our trip, I made sure Evan got to visit the Santa Claus at Mayfair Mall. Evan had his pictures done last year at the same mall and I was so impressed with the Santa and with the quality of the pictures, I wanted to do the same thing again this year.

On December 22, my parents, Evan and I headed to Mayfair Mall for noon - when Santa's castle opened for business. When we got there, we were greeted by a line-up and no Santa yet. While my dad held our spot in line, Evan and I wandered around Santa's castle looking at the wonderful display. We headed back to our spot in line when we saw Santa walking down the mall towards the castle. But he didn't go straight to his throne...instead, Santa went down the line-up greeting all the children that were waiting patiently in line. When Santa came to us, Evan told him his name and that his was "two". The line-up moved pretty quickly, with mall staff offering refreshments.

I have taken Evan for Santa pictures every year, and every year I expect him to cry, scream or melt-down. The first time I took him, he wasn't even 3 months old. He didn't cry, but he kept turning himself to see me. The second time I took him to see Santa was the very same day I took him for his first haircut. He just sat on Santa's lap like it was no big deal. I thought for sure this would be the year that Evan would cry or be shy. Nope. When it was Evan's turn, without help from me, he just marched up to Santa and got in his lap. No fuss. No tears. After a few pictures were taken, Santa had a little chat with Evan about smiling. While Evan looked up at him intently, Santa told him that "if you smile, ice cream winds up in your mouth, but if you don't, it winds up down your chin." After a few more pictures, Santa gave Evan a Sun-Rype Fruit Snack and sent him on his way. Here is Evan with our favourite Santa:

The Annex (spoof of The Office)

Here is a spoof of 'The Office' that we did for the Press Gallery Christmas Party. You can get a little peek at my co-workers and their craziness. My favourite in this video is, of course, Laurie Blakeman. Enjoy!

Our Trip - Part 2

Usually when Evan and I go to Victoria, we can expect weather that's as nice as Edmonton's (in the summer), or nicer (in the winter). While the temperature on this trip was nicer, it was still colder than average for Victoria. And to make it even more fun for the Islanders, it snowed....A LOT!

In fact, we spent a lot of our first days just keeping up with shovelling the long driveway. Of course, Evan always had to help us out.

However amidst all the snow and chaos, there was a silver lining. On Sunday evening, after shovelling all day, my parents' neighbours Jennifer and Jeff brought out some tobagganing tubes for their 2 year old son Jonas and Evan to slide down the long road leading to my parents' home. It wasn't very steep. In fact, we had to kick the tubes down the hill to help the kids makes it to the bottom. We spent a good part of the night pushing the kids down the hill, and riding down mother and son together.

While the boys played in the snow that Sunday evening, the three houses of neighbours gathered and visited over wine, champagne and freshly baked cookies. It was one of the coolest nights I have had in a while.

Stay tuned for Part 3 - Evan's visit to Santa Claus.

Our Trip - Part 1.

Evan and I arrived safely in Victoria - and safely back home. Now I have the opportunity to do a bit of blogging about our trip. I will do it in small segments.

We arrived safely in Victoria on the evening of December 19th. My dad, Evan and I flew out together. Evan did wonderfully on the plane, having his very own seat for the first time. He burst into giggles during take-off, yelling "Again" once we reached altitude.

On Saturday, my mom's friend Penny invited my mom and I to a mysterious event. While my dad took Evan for a haircut, my mom and I were dropped off at said event. We had no idea what to expect, or how to dress. We were told to show up at the Fairholme Manor. What was waiting for us was an amazing brunch at a beautiful bed and breakfast. As an aside, last month Dallas and I spent a weekend at a bed and breakfast scrapbooking. While it was so lovely, this place was AMAZING! Check out the link above. I highly suspect she doesn't do a lot (if any) scrapbooking retreats.

Anyway, our brunch began with homemade granola, fresh fruit, vanilla yogurt, espresso chocolate cake and these amazing White Chocolate Lemon Scones. After savouring more than my share of scones (2) we were offered the choice of a traditional eggs benedict or an eggs benedict prepared with smoked salmon. I chose the traditional while my mom had the smoked salmon eggs benedict. Both were so tasty. I met a bunch of wonderful women over an amazing breakfast. Afterwards, we toured their gorgeous rooms. I'm almost tempted to stay at this bed and breakfast the next time I am in Victoria.

Later that night, my mom and I went to the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. That night, they were hosting Canadian jazz artist Holly Cole. I was really excited for this show, but was disappointed by a lack-lustre performance. I understand that performers can't be great all the time - so I don't hold it against her.

Stay tuned - next blog post will be about the massive amounts of snow and a night spent tobogganing down my parents' driveway.

Guess What Santa Brought Me for Christmas?

Yep - Just in time for my vacation.