Post contains gifted press tickets
Photo Credit: Nicola Jackson Photography
Another year goes by and it’s time for this year’s Christmas post! This year felt completely different to before as Violet really ‘got’ the idea of Christmas and was so excited! It made a big difference to everything we did as we were able to have festive days out, listen for Santa’s bells, read Christmassy stories and decorate the tree together which all helped with the build up for the big day. Pearl only being 16 months old loved all the days out, lights, colours and presents but I think next year she might start to understand what was really going on! It’s been a magical season though and watching them enjoy it together has made it even more special, I can only imagine it’s going to get better over the next few years too!
On Christmas Eve we went to our local church nativity service. Last year we had a ‘Very Hungry Caterpillar’ outfit for Violet to wear (as there was a caterpillar in the nativity, right? 😂) but Violet was so poorly over Christmas we never got to see her in it. This year Violet had outgrown the caterpillar but it was perfect for Pearl, so we headed down to our local church for the service, which is such a lovely thing to do on Christmas eve – all the children dress up and it’s so sweet. Violet of course, not being one for tradition went as Elsa and they both got a special mention in the story as the Christmas caterpillar and the wise princess from the east! When we got home Violet laid down a carrot and mince pie for Father Christmas and went off to bed, a little unsure about the concept of a strange man coming down the chimney but excited about what to expect for the following day.
Christmas morning came and the girls gave us our present of a lie in until 7:45am (unheard of in our house!) Once they were up we went into the living room to find Father Christmas had been and the girls were SO excited! We opened lots of presents with Christmas tunes playing in the background – accompanied by excited sounds of ‘Oooh’ ‘Aah!’ and ‘WOW!’. We tried to keep Christmas small on the present side this year but the girls were fortunate enough to be spoiled by our friends and relatives so had quite a stash in the end of lovely things to open – some of the favourites had to be a giant sloth, Playdoh sets, Frozen PJ’s, a shopping trolley and a ride-on car, to mention a few.
Our day went by in a blur, with two hyper toddlers running about the place and the family to feed, there wasn’t much time to sit down, but the pink fizz was flowing and we followed our usual tradition of a HUGE roast dinner with all the trimmings (even for Robbie) and finally we all calmed down a bit and managed to sit down for the Queens Speech. Before long the girls crashed into bed early, exhausted from all the excitement just in time for us to watch Call the Midwife and Gavin & Stacey (which were both brilliant!).
On Boxing Day we just chilled at home. The girls played with their new toys as we cooked leftovers, party food and worked our way through the Christmas chocolate stash!
The following day was a HUGE Christmas treat for us all! We headed up to London to surprise the girls with a trip to Disney on Ice at the O2! The journey up to London was long, with traffic jams and diversions, we even nearly went the wrong way entirely! The long journey was worth the wait as when we arrived we were excited to find our tickets were on the front row! I have always wanted to see Disney on Ice as a little girl but it was a first time experience for us all so we were all incredibly excited! Going to a show with little ones is always tricky so finding our seats and waiting for the show was a little bit stressful, but as soon as the music came on for the start of the show it was all forgotten as the girls were both captivated!
As you can imagine, the Disney on Ice: 100 years of Magic show was everything you can imagine and more. The show featured little snippets from some of our much loved Disney movies, from Finding Dory, Mulan, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and of course an extra long section for Frozen, which of course was Violet’s favourite! Violet was beside herself with excitement when she saw Elsa and Olaf, calling their names out like they might turn around to wave hello! The show was just magical from start to finish, with lots of little surprises and effects that really brought it all to life, plus the ice skating was just breathtaking too! I can’t skate for two minutes without falling over so I have no idea how they do it.
I had wondered if Pearl was a little too small for it but during the first half she was in her element. Clapping along to the music, waving her hands, smiling and shouting ‘WOW!’ but by the second half she was pretty restless and it was a bit long for her. Something we found tricky was that you aren’t allowed to bring in food or drinks (bought elsewhere) and they only sold snacks like popcorn and candyfloss (which aren’t really suitable for a 1 year old and were also extortionate in price) so apart from a portion of chips (only thing we could find!) we didn’t have any food for them during the show. I think with a few snacks Pearl would have sat for longer but they did let me take in her milk so we had something! I think if they aren’t going to let you bring in food they should at least sell something to suit all ages for a children’s show. This was just a minor detail though and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. I’d love to go again maybe when the girls are 3-4 years old as I think they’ll love it even more!
All in all it’s been such a fabulous festive season, like usual we’ve breezed along in a haze of exhaustion, trying to get it all done, doing too much, sleepless nights (when will they ever end?) and our share of festive illnesses and viruses too but we’ve enjoyed making memories that will last us forever!
A big THANK YOU to Disney on Ice for making our Christmas a special one!
Read about Pearl’s First Christmas and Violet’s First Christmas here!
