Black Friday, White Snow

The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally, in the States, the biggest shopping day of the year, known as Black Friday. Stores open at ridiculous hours and offer special incentives for people to start their Christmas shopping and get the best deals. Now if you know me, I am NOT a morning person and my enjoyment of shopping decreased rapidly with the arrival of children and the departure of money, so you will not find me at any store at 3am!

I have started my Christmas shopping from the comfort of my own home and did venture into one store yesterday for one particular item which was not available for the same deal online as in store, but yesterday was all about the snow. My poor kids...Arran is the only one who has ever seen snow, when he was still less than two years old, as it just does not snow in our area. In San Rafael though, a town half an hour from where we live, every Thanksgiving they bring in snow machines and provide free sledding for the kids. Then there is a mini-parade, when Santa Claus arrives and lights the town's Christmas Tree.

The lines were long, but they did go quite quickly and having cousins to stand in line with, the second time around helped pass the time too. They were all so excited, but when Asia got to the top she chickened out, it was just a little too scary, as each child had to go alone and could not be accompanied. Second time around though, she went for it and loved it.

We finished off the evening with hot chocolate, topped with marshmallows and whipped cream. Hopefully we will be able to have a visit to some real snow this season, but we shall see.