Christmas 2014 for my family was an enjoyable one. Hope it was for yours too. I was so glad I had the energy to go around and do something with my boys. It's amazing how much everyone can do, filled with excitement, enthusiasm and anticipation awaiting a very special event. Here's my family's top 10 Christmas activities in 2014...
1. Paddleboating to Santa in Darling Harbour
This was lots of fun especially for my little boy. Though he couldn't do the paddling, he had a great time stirring the boat. I think we paid $20 for 20 minutes for the ride. Christmas 2014 was a bit rainy so the days were cool enough to do some paddling. Hope it will be there again this year.
2. Christmas Lights at St. Mary's Cathedral
For my husband and me, watching the light show this year wasn't the first time but for my little boy, it was and he was delighted! Not only the light show but he also had a blast dancing to the Christmas carols by a choir entertaining all the people waiting.
3. Christmas Trees Sightseeing
There are a lot of notable Christmas trees in the CBD and we always love to go around and get a closer look at them. On photo is the Christmas tree at World Square. I love the silvery look with the red balls (I know red is a Christmas color but it's also very Chinese where Chinatown is just around the corner). Other Christmas trees I love are the Swarovski crystal decorated-tree in QVB, the giant lego tree at Pitt St. at the entrance of Westfield, the giant tree at Martin Place and the Strand Christmas tree.
4. Watching Christmas Movies
It was a great day and an open-air Christmas movie at Darling Quarter was just perfect. It was packed with people so to get a good spot, one has to camp there early and wait. My 3-yr-old wasn't so interested though as there were too many distractions around. After a few days, we brought him to an enclosed one called cinema to watch Paddington and later Big Hero 6.
5. Christmas Shopping
Christmas shopping was easier this year. Since most presents were for my son, what I did was bring him along to the toy shops and let him wander around to look for what he liked and I would take photo of them and pretend to let Santa know. He definitely enjoyed that and this made it easier for us what to get.
6. Indulging ourselves in Chocolates
What's Christmas without chocolates? I started the tradition so I'm to blame. Last year, we started having an advent calendar for my son. It has 24 boxes with drawers shaped like a Christmas tree. Oh the excitement every morning when he has to open one box and finds one tiny Christmas chocolate from Lindt. Good thing is he shares. If I put 2, he gives the other one to me.
7. Making Gingerbread Train and Baking
It's Christmas bonding while making gingerbread train and baking some cookies and muffins. It's great to see my son showing interest and patience when we were building the gingerbread train. He really helped decorate it and he loved how all the pieces became one of his favorite tranports (though not so amused by the taste). He also helped his dadi made some yummy Vanillenkipferl for Christmas to the delight of the mum.
8. Watching Christmas Concert at the Opera House
I was apprehensive because it was quite pricey. Oh well it was in the Opera House. But glad we did it. It was something new and something we'd love to do again next Christmas. My son had a blast on the first half. He couldn't stop dancing but then got so tired and fell asleep before the concert ended. Next time, we'll have him nap :).
9. Christmas Eve
After attending a Christmas mass at 7pm, we head home, ate delicious Christmas food and we were ready for the most exciting part, the opening of presents. It was of course the most exciting part for my little one. He'd been patiently looking at the presents for days, anticipating what it could be inside. At the end of the day, he was happy that Santa knew what he wished for.
10. Doubledecker Bus City and Bondi Tour
On boxing day, we took our son for a doubledecker bus tour. He was ecstatic! He always wanted to ride this tall, red buses he sees in the city but somehow his wish was never heard until that day. We went through the crowded George St, yeah really crowded on boxing day and took another ride to Bondi. Finally, we saw Bondi beach!
