Ice on Main and some Christmas art

Day 7: Christmas arts and crafts! Our play group had arranged to meet at Creating Artists for Tomorrow, an art studio, for “Table Time,” several different art activities involving a variety of mediums and materials. This was our second time attending, and Lauris got more involved this time. We started in the sandbox before trying out the easel, and although bubble-wrap painting was fun, the favorite was making spin-art ornaments.

Christmas tree made using a branch of redcedar, and spin-art ornament

 

Day 8: The weekend, perfect for ongoing projects! Roberts continued staining the deck, and I worked on the Christmas cards. The final touches were added on the gingerbread house project: two trees and some decorative frosting.

You try doing the decorative icing with two little helpers...

 

Day 9: We lit the second candle of the advent wreath. A few weeks ago we cut some holly branches while hiking, and using jewelry wire I made a wreath for our dining room table. Now that it’s dried out it is looking a little bare; I might wind some ivy in it to fill it out again. The leftover holly went up in the kitchen, in a small wreath over the archway and a few sprigs in a vase on the windowsill.

 

Our morning adventure was ice skating: for Lauris a first, and for me the first time in probably five years, when I went with the Čikāgas lielgaidas in Millenium Park. Lauris had to be cajoled into a trip around the rink, he declared it grūti (hard!) and settled in to watch with some popcorn while I took a few more shaky loops.

My little hockey player to-be

 

Ice on Main is open daily, and costs $10/adult, $8/child under 12 (including skate rental). You can skate as much as you wish on the day you purchase your ticket; all you have to do is keep your wristband on, so that when you return you can pick up new skates. Which is exactly what we did later that night, so that we could enjoy the Christmas lights downtown.

We took the free Downtown Trolley for a loop around town and hopped off at the rink for round 2. Lauris did a couple of more laps with me, and this time even carried some of his own weight. We took in the lights and ended up at the Carolina Ale House for a quick dinner before heading home. Very successful weekend, now to see how my legs will feel today after my Olympic figure skating day...