Susan and I had a treat this weekend. Flynn called us about six days ago and said that he had the girls here in Canada for about two weeks but he had a flight on the 25th and he needed a baby sitter. Keiko had stayed home in Japan and was taking a break. Well, that sounded just about perfect. So we arranged for the girls to come over on Friday night and stay until Saturday night. And ever since we knew they were coming we have been so totally excited!

So what to do with the girls. Well, on the Friday night there was the Christmas Market at the Italian Cultural Center which we thought they would enjoy. Flynn brought them over on Friday afternoon and all five of us went to the Market. Because the weather was so unpredictable this weekend the market was held inside the main banquet hall at the centre.

We walked in and it was wall to Christmas! They had trees all decorated, they had all kinds of booths selling crafts, Joe was palying Christmas music, and, of course, there was a Santa.

 

Joe was playing the music and, as usual, it was great.

Olivia took this picture of Susan and I at the Centre.

The girls were hungry so the first thing we did was line up for food. The selection was not extensive but very Italian. Sicilian fried rice balls called Arancini. Now, they were good!  There was polenta, pasta, meatballs, and, of course, cannoli. The girls were not so impressed but they both had some pasta and an arancino.

Pasta and Italian Orange soda.

And a chance to catch up with Nonna.

Candy canes were popular.

But what’s with the “V” for Victory sign.

And of course Sophia did everything she could to steal the show and dominate the conversation.

This was the first visit in which Sophia let her guard down and we got to know her.

Of course, we had to make a visit to Santa.

And then there was the face painting. I don’t think the girls were expecting to be allowed to have their faces painted. They picked out their own images from a board of examples. There were two ladies so the girls were both done at the same time. Well, I have never seen Sophia sit still for fifteen minutes. I mean “still”. She did not move a muscle. She was totally into having her face painted. Olivia, is older. She loved the whole idea but she knows how to sit still.

Nonna and her Girls.

Dad taking pictures of the girls.

Olivia took this picture of her Dad.

Of course the girls are curious and into everything and they were interested in my camera. I let them take pictures which was really interesting. It is amazing how quickly they pick up on technology. I took a month to figure that camera out. They were onto it in minutes. and they were taking decent pictures right away. It was amazing.

Another photo by Olivia.

And this was taken by Sophia.

And that was our 24 hours with the girls. It was over too soon but there will be other days.