Santa Claus Parade

Every year since I was a young girl, we have watched the Santa Claus parade come rain, snow or shine. It was a yearly tradition where we would meet my aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins on a stretch of road and watch the parade together. We would be thrilled when someone we knew rode by on a horse or a float, or when they threw candy in our direction. At the end of the parade, the Burlington Teen Tour Band would literally fill the entire width of the street and just blast you with their Christmas music. You could always tell they were playing their hearts out as loud as they could. After the parade, we would trek to Grandpa’s house for chicken noodle soup, hot chocolate and family chatter.  At the time as a kid, I didn’t really think of this much as a tradition. It was simple and fun. But since losing my Grandpa two years ago, and moving 3,500 km away, these memories of family togetherness hold special significance in my heart.

I realized last year that the parade route here in our town actually goes right behind our house. So this year, we invited our friends to join with us in a bonfire roasting hot dogs, marshmallows and having hot chocolate as we awaited the parade to reach our backyard – literally. When the sounds and lights grew near, we swung the fence open to watch the parade go by. There was no shortage of candy canes, yells of “Merry Christmas!” or lights. We were delighted to yell out to our friend the firefighter, Athacat (our town mascot), and were even recognized ourselves and waved to heartily.

On a side note, if you’re local to Burlington ON, the parade is today. I bet my relatives are out there this afternoon.

Here are the highlights from our evening parade. Of course, the fire trucks were popular with Mr J.

Clay Ornaments

 At the local Pottery Guild, we were able to participate in making clay holiday ornaments last week. There was a variety of shapes to choose from: trees, stars, gingerbread men, candy canes and  mittens.

 

 They were being rolled and passed out by the talented Megan McFarlane and her two delightful girls. Mr J was reluctant at first to keep his hands “all yucky” but he soon was having fun making patterns from the various bits and bobs supplied on the table. We used small little scrap pieces of metal, buttons, paper clips and little bits of dried clay to create designs. We also made a hand & foot decoration for Miss P’s first Christmas using her digits. It was fun and definitely a two man job. 

 

Megan then fired all the pieces in the kiln and most of ours survived! We have yet to paint them but we are happy with the results. If you want to get some stunning pottery pieces for your holiday celebration, check out Megan‘s store Megalithic on Etsy. She creates one of a kind pieces like the one below that can really class up your decor. They also make terrific handmade gifts!

 

Make Your Own Tradition

• Watch your local Santa Claus Parade.
• No parade? No problem – make your own in your neighbourhood – invite all the neighbours with their wagons, strollers, bikes, etc and serve refreshments
• Make salt dough or plaster of Paris ornaments to decorate & paint
• Make your own homemade ornaments out of recycled materials or items found in nature – be creative

 
 What traditions are you exploring this week? Did you start opening your advent calendar today?