The One With the Winter Solstice

 

 

 

 

We held our family winter solstice celebration today and had a lot of fun. In keeping with the day, we did:

 

1. The Sunrise Car ride to Beverly.

2. Got breakfast to go at home.

3. Made our Yodel Yule candles.

4. Went for a walk.

5. Put out food for animals on tree (it was a hit with birds and squirrels). We made apples with peanut butter and seed, put peanut butter on branches, made honey nut Cheerios hang down "ornaments" and put bread and peanut butter on there. I also put up older blueberries on ends of branches.

6.  Turned on all lights.

The One With Winter Solstice

 

 

Today we celebrated the winter solstice. Technically, it was one day late - we were having our windows replaced on December 21. But, we had an amazing day.

 

We started by going to see the sunrise in Beverly. This is always fun, but took on added enjoyment because there was a fresh coat of snow on the ground from a storm two days ago....and it was brutally cold outside.

 

Then, we tried to make our way into Boston to see the Muppet Christmas Carol. That did not work out, so we went to the Sugar Factory!!! That was amazing!

 

Then, we came home and did our normal festivities - the shutting off of lights, the feeding of the animals (they liked the food and we added blueberries this year), the making of the yule logs, and the turning on of all the lights and walking around the house. We then watched Little Bear, got snacks nearby, and watched "Muppet Christmas Carol" at home.

 

As Emmie said, "This is the best winter solstice I can remember."

The One With Yule

 

On December 26, we celebrated Yule as we typically do each year. It is always something I look forward to.

 To celebrate, we harken back to an earlier time to honor what our ancestors experienced in the past. So, we always make sure to get up to see the sunrise. This year was no exception...but we woke up just in time to see it rise in Beverly.

Then, we came home and had breakfast. We watched a nature show - Yellowstone at Christmas - to capture the mood. We only watched a little bit of this.  

 We then made sure to prepare food for the animals to hang on the Solstice tree. I always love doing that. We served apples with peanut butter, bread and peanut butter with birdseed, and cranberries.

 We then made our annual Yule logs, complete with decorated Swiss rolls. It was a ton of fun!!! I love those rolls.

We wrapped up by turning all the lights in the house to "honor" the light.

All and all, an authentic, and ancient, way to reflect on life.

 

 

The One With The Happy Yule

 

We celebrated Yule today with some amazing activities....

 

1. We saw the sunrise in Beverly. 

2. We did shopping for each other at the Dollar Tree store.

3. We did a photo shoot at Endicott Park.

4. We made Yule logs with Ho-Hos.

5. We turned out all the lights.

6. We went sledding.

What a great day. Happy Yule!!!

The One With The First Day Of Winter

It arrived yesterday. That old, fateful, shortest day. The first day of winter.

It was chilly.

It was cool.

But it arrived.

Happy yule. 

Now the days

Grow longer

Stronger

Making their way

Toward steadier days

The One With the Winter Solstice Sunrise

Today is the winter solstice and we continued our annual tradition of watching the sunrise. It is always fun, but this year, we had a nice twist...instead of trying to rouse the kids (which sometimes happens), they were already awake and ready to go.

We wandered over the Beverly, wondering if we would be able to see the sun. After all, there was a thick cloud cover and a few snowflakes in the air. But, when we got there, the big guy was indeed looking out for us. There was a sliver of clear sky. Although we did not truly see the sun itself rise, we saw the glint of sunlight in the air, ushering in the first day of winter.

We had hot cocoa and tea and donuts, listened to some winter music, and then made our way home.

What a nice way to usher in the winter season.