Saturday, December 17, 2011

A Summertime Holiday Down Under

Our day started out with Koala Chocolates in the kids advent pocket and a card that said “Let’s spend a sunny afternoon Down Under!”

In Australia Christmas is in the middle of the summer.  You are more likely to be camping or playing at the beach when the presents get passed out and chestnuts aren’t even in season.  The holiday is in the middle of their summer vacation, so kids are already at home and Christmas is the highlight of the summer.

We started our day off this version of The Greatest Story Ever Told from down under:

Cyan said “Mom, are they at the beach??” and I got to explain about the equator and sun rotation and all that jazz before moving on to pictures of Santa Claus in the sunshine:

After our little online summer adventure, we sat down to make wrapping paper with a summery theme!  I got out all the flower stamps (because of course, flowers are all blooming right now in Australia) and as I did the kids saw the seashell stamps and wanted to add those too!  Sure! 

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The wrapping paper turned out beautiful and the kids really enjoyed making patterns and ‘flower gardens’ on their papers.  (I was going to use this idea… but someone threw away my two celery ends… they probably thought they were garbage.  Funny about using everything… some people’s everything is somebody else’s trash.  Winking smile)

After we were done with that we made s’mores!  I was thinking of going outside like they would be camping in Australia, but saw that it was 26* and thought better of it. 

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Sometimes it tastes GOOD to be a homeschooler!

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4 comments

Zaira said...

how fun!

You're making me homesick though, I grew up in New Zealand where we spent Christmas at the beach or playing cricket in someone's yard while waiting for lunch to come off the BBQ. Nothing compares... you should try making a pavlova ;)

Evi said...

Hey, we are here in sunny Australia celebrating a warm Christmas!!! Yes, you have it right - it's the beach for some people, outdoor BBQ's for others and always a hot day! We are in Tasmania which is the little island state just south, so it's a bit cooler here but none the less we have salads and such for Xmas dinner!
So from our warm home to your cooler one, wishing you a very happy season with friends and family. x x

Unknown said...

I'm an Australian in regional NSW, quite a fair way from the beach unfortunately. (We do have a patch of sand along the river which we call a beach)

My Christmas varies here and there. Mostly we enjoy a BBQ. We do as well often have a traditional Roast pork, lamb or beef - in 30degree heat, (Celsius)

Have a go at a pavlova, We don't have s'mores in Aust but a pavlova is like a big-crunchy on the outside marshmallow. I *think* the desert is named after a russian ballerina who visited Aust. We liked her very much it would seem.

Alina Stefanescu Coryell said...

Love your blog and joie de vivre. So sweet.

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