Today was Emmett's preschool Christmas concert in the morning, and I planned a little surprise for the kids afterwards. I kept Annika home from school, and after the concert we went for brunch at the Pancake House and then to the Children's Museum! I wanted to take them to the museum now around Christmas, because right now they have on display these "fairytale vignettes" - little dioramas depicting scenes from various fairy tales and nursery rhymes - and I remember going to see them at Christmastime when I was a little kid (back when they were in the Eaton's building downtown and at the end of the line was Santa Claus).
First up was the concert - all 10 minutes of it!! Last year they had crammed several preschool classes together in the church for one combined concert, and it was just a gong show. This year, it was just Emmett's class, so there weren't nearly as many kids on stage (or family members in the audience), so it didn't take long for them to get organized and sing their 5 little songs. Emmett had a little trouble at the start of the concert - he didn't get a bell when the teachers were handing out the jingle bells, and he waited and waited very patiently for one, and then started to cry when he realized they were starting the song and he still didn't have one. Thankfully, they gave him some bells and he was okay to stay up there, but he wasn't overly enthusiastic (although I'm not sure he would've been anyways). He was all smiles afterwards, though, when they were handing out the treat bags. ;)
Then we went for brunch. The kids both got these great "snowman" pancakes - 3 pancakes with sausage arms, chocolate chip eyes, strawberry nose and mouth, smarties buttons, and whipped cream and sprinkles "snow". And, of course, a candy cane. ;) I didn't take a picture of my meal, but it was pretty great too - maple bacon waffles. Waffles covered with a maple sauce and topped with crumbled up bacon. Yum.
On to the museum! First up, everyone's favorite - the big slide.
The "pin" wall (anyone have a better name for it??).
The fairytale vignettes.
The kids were pretty hyped up at this point, so they didn't spend a lot of time looking at these, but they did press all the buttons to see the movement in each one (somehow I remember them being more impressive when I was little....). When I was young, these were lined up in a hallway (or something like that) that led to Santa Claus, and so I remember it taking quite a while to go through them, and we would read the little story with each one, however, with the way they are set up now, the kids just ran around the room and didn't really want to stop to listen to the stories.
...Which was actually okay with some of them, as some of these stories are quite morbid. Anyone familiar with the Little Match Girl? She ends up dead and frozen in the cold. Yikes!
Climbing in the "lasagna".
The art center. Emmett was in his glory, using all the glue he wanted.
And the inevitable crash on the drive home.
1 comment:
Sounds like a fun, full day!!
I had heard The Little Match Girl story once or twice as a kid, but had completely forgotten about it. Until we found it as a bonus feature on one of the girls' Tinkerbell movies. Seems like an odd choice for a Disney short to me, but I guess in Europe it's a common, traditionally-told tale this time of year.
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