The countdown begins

After Olivia's dance lesson this morning there was a Christmas market at the same venue so we went to have a little browse. Dexter was fascinated by the large Christmas tree with lights in the centre and was content to sit and look at it for some time (hope he's as content to just look at our Christmas tree this year rather than see if the baubles bounce, like last year).

We also pointed out Santa's Grotto which both kids (and us) were keen to visit. We've never 'visited' Santa before but Olivia was excited and Dexter was babbling that he would sit on Santa's lap. Needless to say that when it came to it Dex was horrified by the strange man and made a quick exit with Daddy chasing him and entertaining him outside. Olivia, despite being very shy in situations like this, behaved really well and answered Santa's questions although she did take a sneaky look at me when he asked her if she'd been a good girl this year (I kept my mouth shut and didn't mention the dress cutting incident a few days ago, much to her relief!). She was rewarded with a lovely present and was given one for her little brother. The impressive thing about the gifts is that they were age appropriate so both kids were very happy. Read happy (not bickering) kids = happy (relieved) Mummy and Daddy.

From there we went to our friend's house as they had agreed to look after our two for a few hours so that myself and hubby could go Christmas shopping together. We headed into the city and got to experience the wonderful Christmassy atmosphere as the markets started yesterday. It was lovely walking around together and looking at the stalls, and not worrying that the kids were bored/cold/hungry. We found a huge toy shop and spent some time looking and purchasing some items.

The kids had had a blast and it seems that four year old Mia and our Dex have taken a real shine to each other, as Mia played with him all the time and helped take care of him. Olivia and the other twin, Juliette, are more matched as they're pretty spirited and egg each other on! Our friends were so complimentary about our kids which is nice after the week I've had, and we have vowed to return the favour.
On the way home Dex cried for Mia and Olivia told us how she had loved her play date.

Oh and then when we got home the kids opened their advent calendars as we'd forgotten to do it in the morning! Christmas has well and truly started - hurrah!