Friday, December 16, 2011

Update on our advent activities



We've been having a BLAST as a family this month! Thanks to our little advent garland full of activities to do each day leading up to Christmas, we've been really prioritizing some family fun and I wanted to share just a few of the activities we've participated in so far.

Day 1 - The activity was "Make hot cocoa and stir it with candy canes." But I already had hot cocoa with peppermint candy cane bits in the mix, so we just used that instead. The kids were in heaven. A great way to kick off our month of family fun.

Day 2 - The activity was "Have a family talent show." My kids are suckers for talent shows. I can't imagine where they got that *insert eyeroll*. My mom and dad love to remind me of how responsive I was whenever they would say "And now all the way from Sandy, Utah with blond hair and blue eyes... it's Angie Romig!!!" and I would strut my stuff and put on a show of sorts. Singing, dancing, piano. You name it I'd perform it! My kids are exactly the same. Molly didn't even have to think when I said it was time for a talent show. She demanded her hula song "That's the Hawaiian in Me" and she did the whole dance for us! Toby did a little break "dancing" to the oh-so-catchy "I'm Sexy and I Know It" song and was wowing us with his mad skillz until he got a little (ahem) inappropriate in his movements (Toby is in a bit of a pull-down-his-pants stage. Ugh ugh ugh. We caught the glimpse of his tighty whities and had to shut him down.) Brady was going to break dance also until he almost took out the Christmas tree with one of his tricks and we had to put an end to the dancing for the night. Instead he sang along with Bruno Mars to "Grenade". Then Ben showed us what he's been learning so far by playing the XBox game Rocksmith where your game controller is an actual electric guitar. He's learning and LOVING playing the guitar! I played a song on the piano. Willy showed us a few recent pictures he's taken to show us his photography talent. It was SUCH a fun night! 



 

Day 5 was "Have a Christmas music dance party." This was one of our favorite activities so far. We happened to have the Mormon missionaries over for dinner that night so they enjoyed a dance party with such favorites as Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Jingle Bell Rock and Here Comes Santa Claus. We had a blast. Willy busted out the Sprinkler, The Running Man AND the Cabbage Patch! He was on fire. We knew we had arrived at maximum fun when everyone lined up for a Rockettes-esque kick!
I'm pretty sure Elder Paulsen was going to pee himself he
was laughing so hard at Willy's sweet moves.
I love that Toby is trying to follow everything Willy did.




My husband danced with me! My husband danced with me!
Did I mention? My husband danced with me!!

Ben danced with me strictly to show off how
much taller than me he is.
Least flattering shirt in the history of
horribly unflattering shirts. But an
extremely awesome dance partner on my arm!

Day 8 we had the activity "Go to a Christmas concert or play." Fortunately that night we had Brady's Performing Arts Christmas show to attend at Ala Moana's Center Stage! Awesome venue, kids did an amazing job! I love Christmas performances that involve hula, ukuleles, ancient chanting and awesomely tropical Christmas songs. Probably my favorite was Hawaiian Santa.


Awwwww. They all cooperated. Sorta...
Here is where I insert a plea.... anyone who is blogger-smart: how the heck do you arrange your photos and videos in this stupid interface? I feel like I'm totally hit or miss on how my pictures line up and it drives me crazy.

Day 10 we got the activity card that said "Have a snowball fight." Hmmm.... Okay!!! It was island snow day at Pearl Highlands and we were all really excited to have a little snow fun in the Hawaiian sun this year!! They bring in 40 tons of snow and the kids have a blast making snowmen and snow castles and getting cold... all while wearing slippers and shorts hehehe. We even busted out a boogie board and went "sledding". It was a great day!

Yes. Willy is barefoot in the snow.
Molly was ruthless! She was tossing snowballs right and left!

There were a LOT of snow-down-the-shirt shenanigans going on.




No way was Willy missing out on the
"sledding" action!







Day something-or-other (I've lost track at this point...) our activity was to drive around and see the holiday lights. See the lights we did! There's a house near us with music coordinated with excessive amounts of dancing lights, etc. It was great fun and I think we'll go back and watch more of the show before the season is over!


You'll hear Molly saying "Bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy" over and over again through the whole song as she watches the lights bounce on those half circles at the front of the yard. She was hilarious! 



No, Ben didn't know I was taking a picture. Why would you think that?

So the holiday activities have been a big hit so far and we've got some fun ones left to do, still! Kids haven't lost interest in this and I think it's safe to say that a new tradition that everyone is excited to participate in has been born for the Campbell family. Yay!!

Other December updates coming soon.

2 comments:

  1. I'd love a list of your advent activities!! What fun your family has had already this holiday season! I LOVE IT!!!

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  2. I am so glad you are back! I was thinking that I was going to have to message you on fb or text you that I was having withdrawls. I love knowing what you are up to. It sounds like you have had a great month! Your activites seem like so much fun. I really do think a dance party is in order the next time we all get together. I busted out laughing when I read that Toby got a little inappropriate with his dance moves. It sounds familiar.

    The other night Emma came up with the arms of her night gown tied around her chest but not put on, and the rest of her in nothing but her panties. She was dancing around and Ruby looked up from her coloring book and said "That's not part of Heavenly Fathers plan, your using your body to get attention." and went right back to her coloring. I almost piddled! I had to leave the room. I love family funnies like this. Glad it goes on at your house too.

    I miss you! Wahhhh! We would have dance parties all the time and I would show off my ugly dances all the time with pride. I am on a dance party hang up, aren't I? Loved this post. Ben is getting so old. Everyone else is too but seeing Ben all teenlike just baffles me.

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