On Monday, I went with a bunch of friends on the NNR (expat women's group) Christmas house tour. There were five houses that had been decorated for the season. Four of them were very nice, but the fifth one was just jaw dropping.
We started at this house.
It was lovely, and then they broke us up into four groups to proceed from there. I'm ashamed to say I didn't take pictures at the next house. It was beautiful, but I was busy drinking cider and socializing.
It was impossible not to take pictures at the house after that, but I'll save that for last, because otherwise the other two houses pale in comparison.
One house felt almost like Scandinavian minimalist Christmas. Everything was very white and clean. (Alice!)
The next house I have decided to call the benjarong house because they had benjarong lamps!
The house was beautiful, but clearly not one where little kids lived. I had seen the big creche figures on my trip to the Christmas store, and I had wondered where you would put them. Now I know.
Okay, now for the final house. To put things in perspective, they host a Christmas party every year, so lots of people get to enjoy this. We knew it was going to be good when we got there and they had a gingerbread house front (custom made, just for this year).
Inside there were at least four Christmas trees (I may have missed one), and each room had a color theme.
Some highlights were the black and white themed sun room,
and, of course, the purple room.
LOVE the feather tree toppers! I could never get away with this, but wow was it something to see.
After such an exciting start to the week, we decided to relax a bit. Wednesday was a work holiday, but the kids still had school, so we invited over our friends with a baby Elena's age and had a relaxed lunch play date.
On Saturday, Jeff took Viv to the pool. She is really getting the hang of it!
Saturday night was Secret Garden.
They had a new pirate themed bouncy house.
Vivi gave it an arrgh!
The slightly disturbing Nichada mascots were out and about.
And the face painting had holiday choices.
We were pretty impressed until we saw the face painting at the birthday party we went to the next day.
Overall, it was a very colorful weekend.
We took it easy on Monday, and then Tuesday was the first night of Hanukkah. I've never been apart from my mom at Hanukkah, so I found an Israeli family to adopt us for the night. I even attempted my mom's recipe for latkes, and the results were yummy if a bit scraggly.
Yes, there's supposed to be that much oil. For the non-chosen among you, the Hanukkah candles represent miracle oil that should have only lasted a day, but lasted eight instead, so frying is the way to go to celebrate the holiday. Donuts (aka fried dough) are the typical dessert.
After stories and games, but before dinner, Vivian got to light her candle with help from a new friend.
It wasn't the same as celebrating with our family, but I'm glad Vivian got to have the party atmosphere that every holiday should have.
You are absolutely right Nicole, I love the third picture from the top!
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