Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 

or Häid jõule! as the Estonians say.  

Last night was very enjoyable.  The Marines came over to watch White Christmas and enjoy some tasty treats.  The kids were quite tickled to have them over and while I typically wait to let them open a gift until after the movie, I decided to get them busy to give one particular Marine a break from their endless chatter.  So, I had them open Legos.  Clara was given the vet treatment center of the Lego Friends and Zach got his first bucket of the big kid Legos.  They were busy until bedtime!

After bed, we exposed the Marines to National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.  Most of them had not seen it before.  They didn't even know who Chevy Chase was!  I think the youngest was born in 1991, which makes me realize I'm just a tad bit older than they are.

Fast forward to this morning...very early this morning...like 2:30 am.  I woke up to Clara excitedly saying something to me, I really cannot tell you her exact words but they revealed she had been down stairs.  And then I hear Zach announcing that Santa brought his blue castle.  I don't think i had a great deal of Christmas cheer at that particular moment but we did get the kids back in bed and to sleep which meant Zach was sleeping with us because the boy was super excited and not interested in sleep.  Five hours later, Zach began stirring again so I told everyone I would call them downstairs as soon as I had a pot of coffee going.  

Here they come!  

 Santa brought me a blue castle!

 This thing spontaneously barks and walks and is the thing she wanted above all things in this world. Oh, and it pants, and makes a variety of sounds based on interactions.  As I type this, the thing is looking at me and I seriously feel compelled to pet it.  

 I must tell you that years ago, Charlie and I admired these knights in Toys R Us and talked about how much fun WE could have with them.  I'm thinking this is a gift the whole family is going to enjoy.  Santa was thoughtful enough to put a few characters fanciful characters in Clara's stocking because Clara would be drawn to the castle too.

 Santa is clever!  

 The pup she named Paws!

 Clara opening up the Barbie Glam Vacation House from Nana and Grandpa.  They got Zach a Bat Cave, but sadly it has not arrived yet but he understands it is coming.  A blue castle and a bat cave were the two items he repeatedly said he wanted so we know he will be thrilled when it arrives.  It was shipped by October 30 but we exercise patience here when dealing with the shipment of our packages. Mimi's package is still in transit as well as a friend's.  It just means the kids get to have extra days for gifts!  They are quite understanding with the packages.  It is the only life Zach has ever known and Clara has adjusted after living in Iwakuni.  

 Charlie and I were practical and gave each other wool coats.  Don't we look well rested?  

 Clara enjoys walking Paws.

We have a white Christmas too!  Well, we've had over a foot of snow on the ground for a while.  It is currently 10 degrees outside (Fahrenheit) and we are supposed to get another inch today.  However, I noticed for the first time in quite a while they are predicting a high of 41 so maybe some of this stuff will start melting!  It is already 10:30 in the morning so I don't know when this heat wave is coming but it says tomorrow's high is 18.  We'll see!

Official Santa Pictures

Christmas Village at Estonian Open Air Museum

The Christmas Village was this weekend only.  Friday we were a bit busy, and Charlie had training to do on Saturday, so we had no choice but to take advantage of this opportunity today.  It was a bit chilly and breezy so actually a little uncomfortable at times.  I definitely admire the Estonians though.  They are hard core.  As we were driving to the museum, we noticed that a race was taking place so had to snap some pictures.  It was well represented.  The Estonians are very active people, and clearly, a little snow, ice, and cold temperatures are not going to keep them from running.

 As it turns out, between this race which was set up close by the museum plus the fact it was the Christmas Village weekend, we could find no close parking.  So...we parked at Rocca Al Mare mall and walked to the museum which is probably a 15 minute walk.

 It is a lovely walk, with views of the sea beyond, and these ducks.

 Unfortunately, I forgot to charge the camera so ended up with very few shots of this excursion.  As I snapped a picture of the village shop, I realized my battery was dying.  It is pretty though!

 Here, we are walking to the chapel.

 This is inside the Sutlepa Chapel listening to the Children’s Choir of Nõmme Youth Club sing.  Since we had a tough time finding parking, and then had to hoof it into the museum, we missed most of the performance.  It was quite crowded when we showed up, but I stuck it out and finally managed to squirm up front to get a picture.  I caught the last two songs which were O Christmas Tree and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, which were both sung in Estonian.

 As you can see, most kids are lugged around on sleds here during weather like this.  There were a few prams to be seen though.  

 Can you tell what is coming?

That's right!  A one-horse-open-sleigh!!!  With jingling sleigh bells!  

I had read that you could do that, but then could not find it anywhere so assumed I made a mistake.  I was so tickled to see that we could do this and was determined we were going to.  However, the Estonians are great people...but not great turn takers.  We waited and waited, only to have a big group run up and jump on the sleigh before we could politely give our money to the driver.  After waiting a second time and seeing there really was no order to getting to ride and refusing to be rude...not to mention Charlie and the kids were super cold and standing by the fire.  I began to feel like Clark Grizwold and kept expecting to hear Clara's eyes were frozen so decided it was enough to know I had the opportunity to do it and wisely chose to pass.  

 We walked around a few of the farms and went inside to see various traditions.  The cabins were quite dim so I didn't get any pictures.  It really was cold and everyone was complaining of cold and hunger so we began making our way back to the car.  On our way, this guy stopped us.  I'm assuming he was supposed to be Father Christmas (or something along those lines).  He had an awesome costume spoke some English. He asked Clara to sing something.  Well, that is what we thought he asked, so she did a beautiful and thorough rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  He rewarded all of us with a piece of yummy chocolate candy from his sack!

We hung out in the gift shop long enough to thaw out before we began our trek back to the mall.  Originally we were planning to get something to eat downtown, but decided to get something at the mall.  We settled on some bistro type place which was decent.

It was a great day for me and again, I feel so blessed to be able to explore this beautiful country.  I'm working on finding some good clips of Estonians singing traditional songs in their language.  It is quite beautiful so I'll keeping looking.

Christmas Party

We had our Christmas party this evening.  The kids had a great time.  There was caroling, plenty of food and drinks, and lots of visiting.  

The kids joined together to sing some Christmas songs.  

 Zach opted out of singing and chose to color.  They had cookie decorating too, but he was into coloring.

 There is Charlie, mingling.

 Of Course, Santa had to make an appearance!

 Zach was a bit apprehensive, but was willing to go up there with Clara.

 And then he ran right back to me and hugged my leg.

 They had a big camera set up taking pictures.  I forgot to ask how they are distributing those shots.  

 Here Clara is letting Santa know she wants Lego Friends and a FurReal walking dog.

 Zach was quite brave and told Santa exactly what he wanted.  A bat cave and blue castle.

 Of course, Zach was eager to get back to his snacks as soon as he left Santa.

 Clara had a blast hanging out with her friends.

 I tried to get a good shot of them both, but this proved to be quite the adventure.  As you can see, I finally just gave up and decided to embrace the moment as...awkward.