Up Goes the Tree

We decided to put our Christmas tree up early this year! The girls still really enjoy decorating the tree, especially if there's some good Christmas music in the background. A lot of our ornaments have been gifted to us or handmade by the girls through the years, so they enjoy reminiscing and placing family pieces together. 

Steve's only job: assemble the tree

Mommy's main job: install the lights

Our timing was pretty sweet: once the tree was all decorated it started snowing! What a beautiful sight.

The rest of our decorations went up too: my new Christmas bunting, stockings, advent and countdown calendars, and a smaller tree and bells in the entryway. Quick and easy, just how we like it!

 

Bring on December.. and Christmas!

Dark Sky Viewing Area

For a couple of years now, Steve has wanted to take the girls to the Dark Sky Viewing Area to see the stars. The problem was that many things had to line up for the outing to be possible. We needed:

• Clear skies
• Decent temperature
• Darkness early enough in the evening so that it wouldn't be too late when we got back
• Kids that could happily handle the 45-minute drive there and back
• A supper plan, since we'd want to be there around 6:00pm
• Not a school night

Somehow the years flew by and we kept missing our chances (or just forgetting to check altogether). Then last Saturday, while we were walking Lucy around 4:00pm, I noticed the cloudless sky and mild temperature. Everything came together as we realized the sky would start to darken by 5:00pm. We all agreed the time had finally come! We quickly packed warm clothes, blankets, a flashlight and camera, and made plans to pick up McDonald's on the way.

Happy kids watching a movie on the drive

Beautiful, clear sky

Dinner to go

It's dark here, guys!

Our outing turned out to be quite the adventure, because after we parked the car, we started walking in the wrong direction to the 'viewing area'. So for about 10 minutes, we walked down a dark and creepy path in the woods with just a small flashlight. Three of us felt pretty scared; Steve thought it was a little funny and was sure we just had to keep going. 

Walking in the dark like this

Eventually we ran into a couple who were also there for the first time and seemed to be lost. We all decided it would be best to turn back. Thankfully (and embarrassingly), once we made it to the car we saw that the viewing area was right there, on the opposite side of the car. Relief!

The other funny part of our outing was trying to get a reasonable picture of the sky. Turns out I should brush up on my "dark sky" photography skills. This was the best shot I could get (ha!):

Oh Starry Night

Despite the initial discomfort, we had quite a few laughs and fun on our impromptu family outing. We snuggled together under a blanket for about half an hour, spotting shooting stars and marveling at the beauty. It looked more like this (below) than my amateur picture (above):

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Daytime picture of the viewing area
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Making memories! 

Introducing: Little Click!

 

Well this was unexpected! The girls received a $25 gift card to PetSmart for taking care of Creamsicle over Thanksgiving weekend. Last week we finally made it out to the pet store, thinking the girls would buy guinea pig accessories and whatnot, but instead they longingly looked at the Betta fish section before Emily turned to me and asked, "Can we get a fish?"

Next thing we knew, we were heading home with $25 worth of fish accessories and our new little Veiltail Male Betta fish in tow. He received his name before we even left the store: Little Click.

Welcome, Little Click!

His mouth is opening ♥

Camouflaged

Today we cleaned Little Click's home for the first time. The girls did most of the work (as they had promised!), but Steve and I helped with the fishing and heavy lifting.

Little Click's first week at home wasn't all that smooth -- he wasn't eating or swimming around much. We've since added a heater to his tank and that seems to be improving his mood.

Hanging out by the heater

What a beauty ♥

While I later realized that my answer to "Can we get a fish?" should have been something like "Well let's go home and research it before we make a decision.", instead of my impulsive "Sure!", we are all enjoying our new little adventure.