Elf on the Shelf: Week 3

Another week of December has gone by and that means another week of Elfie Pokie Nokie hanging around in our home. Here's a look at what he got up to over the past week...

On the fifteenth day Elfie got a little tangled in Christmas lights. We found him sitting next to our tree wrapped in a spare set of lights that I'd yet to hang on the tree.

Alameda Christmas Tree Lane

A few weekends back we took a stroll down Alameda's "Christmas Tree Lane".

The 3200 block of Thompson Ave in Alameda is one of the East Bay's best spots to check out houses decked out for the holidays. Almost every house on this section of the street is covered in lights with displays covering the front lawn.

Many of the houses have a particular theme and feature beloved characters both from Christmas stories and popular movies. There are snowmen, reindeer, Santa, elves, candy canes, and characters from Marvel comics, Peanuts, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Grinch who stole Christmas and Frozen. Snoopy, Jack Skellington and Elsa all on one street? Lola was in heaven!

Here's a look at some of my favourite displays on the street.

Gingerbread House & Sugar Tree

Last weekend I took the girls into the city to visit two of San Francisco's finest hotels and their festive Christmas displays: the Giant Gingerbread House at the Fairmont Hotel and the Sugar Tree at the Westin St Francis Hotel.

Visiting these two amazing confectionery pieces makes up two of the vouchers on our advent calendar and it has become a tradition for us to visit them every year.

Nevada City Victorian Christmas 2014

Last Sunday we traveled to Nevada City high in the Sierra Nevada ranges to attend the Victorian Christmas Festival.

Every year Nevada City plays hosts to thousands of visitors who flock to the beautiful little gold rush town for the festival. The town's many Victorian era buildings and the surrounding pine forests, make the perfect backdrop for the event.

Elf on the Shelf: Week 2

Another week of December has gone by and that means another week of Elfie Pokie Nokie hanging around our home. Here's a look at what he got up to during week two...

On the eighth day Elfie got into the Halloween bucket again. Lola has been reminiscing about Elfie making a mess with the Halloween candy last year so she was pretty excited to see that he was up to his old hi-jinx again. That is until she noticed that it was her Halloween bucket and he'd eaten a Snickers bar, two Easter eggs and a lollipop! Elfie Pokie Nokie has not been in Lola's good books ever since! I'm sure he'll make up for it in some way.

The Little Ice Rink

This post is sponsored by The Little Ice Rink. All opinions are my own.

Last Sunday was our day of wintry fun. We started the day with a trip to the "snow" at the annual Snow? In Berkeley? festival (which you can see here), then spent the afternoon ice skating at The Little Rink in Alameda.

The Little Rink is located at Alameda's South Shore Center and is a great spot to spend the afternoon.
We skated for just over an hour as the sun began to set and it was perfect. Ava is our little skater girl and despite the fact that she hasn't had lessons in a year and a half she took to the ice like a pro. Within no time she was showing off with one foot glides and attempting spins. Lola is still a little nervous on the ice and needed help but I could see her confidence growing as she skated.

Snow Day in Berkeley

Last weekend we pretended that we get real Winters here in the Bay Area and spent a day playing in the snow and ice. We spent Sunday morning making a snowman and having snowball fights, and the afternoon ice skating at an outdoor rink. A perfect day of Winter fun - without having to actually experience Winter!

I'll be sharing our ice skating fun soon but first let's have a look at our morning of fun in the snow...