Advent 2013 Day 22 & 23

Day 22 -

• Bible Story: He's here!

• Activity: Holiday Lights at Gilroy Gardens

For the Sunday before Christmas (Day 22), Henry woke and opened up his advent mitten to find that the activity for the day was to go see the Holiday Lights at Gilroy Gardens. Last year when we went, it was raining so we spent most of the time huddled under umbrellas trying to stay dry. This year, the weather looked fantastic and Henry was very excited to see the lights and go on some rides. After Sunday school and church time, followed by some lunch, we wrapped a few Christmas gifts and then headed down to Gilroy in the evening. It was chilly but not too cold and the various lighted displays around the park were amazing. From giant candy canes at candy cane lane by the park entrance, to the dancing musical lights at Bonfante falls, to the huge lighted billboards of cupcakes and gingerbread men near the arboretum, the lights definitely did not disappoint. We even caught the showing of the Charlie Brown Christmas play. We had some time riding the lighted train, playing at the Oak Park playground at night and topped off the evening with a ride on the panoramic wheel. The Jesus story for the day was "He's here!" but because we were so exhausted from the day's fun, we didn't get a chance to read it. The Lego activity for the day was to build Boba Fett (as a kid). Henry's Q&A question was "What did the wise men follow?" Answer: "The star!"

Day 23 -

• Activity: Letter and care package for our troops

Day 23 was a relaxing day for us as we needed some extra rest from last night's fun. For today's advent activity, we were going to write a letter and send a care package to our troops (Uncle Geoff!). Because of the limitations of sending food, we weren't able to send Henry's favorite food (choccolate) to Uncle Geoff but we did head over to Mitsuwa to buy a variety of different Japanese snacks to send to him instead. Henry wrote the letter with Mama's help and we packed up all the food to send. Day 23 was also gymnastics day and both Mama and Dada, along with Auntie Veronica and Uncle Juan, were able to see both Henry and Aidan tumble and roll. Henry also spent some dojo points to open up his December Kiwi Crate and made the first craft (a pair of polar bear mittens, ears and a snowball to play catch). The Lego advent activity for the day was a jetpack-powered sleigh.

MORE Pictures and video clips form Day 22 & 23
http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/NwRLUW6e/1/6357338