Elf on the Shelf 2015: Week 3

I can't believe that three weeks with Elfie Pokie Nokie in our home has gone by already.

Here's a look at what he's been up to this past week...

Day 15

It looks like Elfie decided to do a little cooking on Lola's play stove. I wonder if he realizes the stove isn't real. His saucepan was empty so I guess so. Maybe elves eat imaginary food. 

52 Weeks: Week 50

Week 50: Karate Belt Test

This past week both Ava and Lola took karate belt tests - and passed!

I'm so proud of my little karate kids! Ava is now an orange belt and Lola is now a yellow belt.

Here's a look at my karate kids in action...

Holiday Circle of Lights

Saturday night we took the girls to go see a beautiful Christmas light display - at a cemetery!

I know, I know... It sounds kind of morbid and such an odd place to have a Christmas light display, but trust me, it was absolutely beautiful.

Visiting Santa 2015

Last weekend we spent a day in the city doing a little festive sight seeing. First up we visited the Fairmont Hotel to see the Giant Gingerbread House and then the Westin St Francis Hotel to see the Sugar Castle. You can see them both here. 

Our next stop was Macy's to go see Santa and tell him our Christmas wishes

Gingerbread House & Sugar Castle

Last Sunday we spent the day in the city taking in the sights of Christmas. I always love how festive San Francisco feels at this time of year. The city is filled with Christmas cheer with festive street lighting, Christmas trees, ice skating rinks, ornate decorations in windows and lobbies, and crowds of holiday shoppers and tourists.

We made sure to visit all of our favorite holiday spots: the giant gingerbread house at the Fairmont Hotel, the sugar castle at the Westin St Francis, Union Square and, of course, Santa at Santaland in Macy's.

Here's a look at the giant gingerbread house and the sugar castle...

Elf on the Shelf 2015: Week 2

Another week with Elfie Pokie Nokie, our Elf on the Shelf, has gone by.

Here's a look at what he has been up to...

Day 8

Uh oh! It looks like Elfie got into the Halloween candy... again! He does this at some point every year and for some reason it's always Lola's Halloween bucket that he chooses. Lola was not impressed. Mathilde, however, thought it was pretty funny. She has a pointy red Hanna Andersson hat that we refer to as her "naughty hat" as she seems to do extra cheeky things when she wears it. When she saw the mess that Elfie Pokie Nokie had made with the candy she sat next to him, pointed at his head and said "hat" while nodding knowingly. It wasn't Elfie's fault, it was the "naughty hat"! On a side note, I didn't notice until after I'd cleaned up Elfie's mess that there was a smear across my camera lens - hence the bad photos.

52 Weeks: Week 49

Week 49: Jack London Square Tree Lighting

I'm a little behind with my weekly post so this one is almost two weeks old. Oops!

A few Fridays back the girls and I got into the Christmas spirit by attending the annual Christmas tree lighting festivities at Oakland's Jack London Square.

We arrived a little late thanks to BART delays leaving us waiting on the platform for quite some time in Berkeley, but the girls enjoyed the night even though we missed the official "lights on" moment.