Life with Aidan Kai: December Catch Up- Christmas performance, Christmas lights, Boat Parade

I am still playing catch up from December. I was happy that Aidan got to participate in two Christmas performances this year- one at church and one at school. I am going to attempt to post the performance at church so those of you who are not on Facebook can see it. So cute! I don't think there is anything much cuter than preschoolers putting on a performance. It just melts my heart Every. Single. Time!

Since we stayed at home this year for the holidays we were able to explore San Diego a little more and find some hidden treasures of the city! There are so many cool things to see during the holidays around here! The Christmas lights displays around the neighborhoods are unlike anything I have ever seen before! There were a couple of nights that we went to a neighborhood that has named themselves "Christmas Card Lane". Unbelievable! You couldn't just drive around and appreciate all the displays so we parked and walked around the neighborhood. There were probably 4 blocks and only 2 or 3 houses that weren't decorated! Every house had a theme and we saw everything from Disney to "remember our soldiers who are away" themes. Each house had these giant boards in their yards displaying their particular theme. It looks like one artist did every display because they are all similar as far as the quality of work. They had high school students selling hot chocolate and cookies as a fund raiser, horse and carriage rides ( we asked about this because we wanted to do it but it turns out someone was throwing a christmas party in the neighborhood and rented it for their guests!), carolers walking around the neighborhood, and some houses even had their own concerts going on! It really felt surreal being there and felt like we should have been in some Charles Dickens novel. lol!

We also learned about a place called "Santa's Village". This is not advertised and it is only through word of mouth. It is a house in one of the wealthier neighborhoods in our community. The people open up their home and let people tour the bottom floor which is decorated .Mr. and Mrs. Claus are there for pictures, there is free hot chocolate, apple cider, and cookies, and every child who comes is given a gift! Apparently this has been going on for several years because there were several hundred to a thousand people there the night we were there! The line to see Santa was about 1 hour to an hour and a half so we opted just to see him from a distance. I got the inside scoop for next year as to when to go so it wouldn't be as crowded. We inquired about leaving a donation but they wouldn't accept any donations and any money they receive goes to charity! I just love the sense of community here and how people are soooo giving! It is such an amazing place to spend the holidays and to feel the spirit of the season! Even in times of economic recession people go out of their way to spread happiness and cheer.

Another family activity we did during December was to go to the Boat Parade. We did this a couple of years ago and went again this year. People get really creative and use their imaginations to decorate their boats.

Aidan and his dad before his Christmas performance at school....

silly boy!

Aidan at school getting ready to perform.

singing with his classmates.

Christmas Card Lane. I took about 75 pictures but wont bore you with them all! lol! Here are just a couple of the houses. This is the horse and buggy that someone rented out for their Christmas party.

Loved the "Little Bear" theme.

This was by far Aidans favorite display! Someone set up a train track in their entire front yard ( there were about 3 houses with train displays but this was the biggest) He could have stayed here for hours and asked to "see the trains" every night until Christmas!

101 Dalmations...

Finding Nemo....

This one was my fav! The Spiderman was very realistic looking! You can't tell from the picture but the lights were the "webs" coming from his fingers.