Kindergarten Christmas Magic.....

Yesterday was the day of Seb's Kindergarten Christmas Party. I've been excitedly waiting for this party ever since late last month when I read in the monthly Kindy newsletter that it was to be held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel! I mean obviously I'd have been excited about the party wherever it was held but what a privilege to have a  school Christmas party in one of the most spectacular hotels in Canada! Apparently the Banff Springs provides the party as a gift to local schools! Is that not the most super cool treat ever!

We awoke to the most perfect of crisp winter mornings, fresh snow and glorious sunshine. I'd been told to wear my party clothes and actually had a minor panic about what to wear (to my 5 year's olds school Christmas do of all things! )  Party clothes I don't have! After trying on about 4 different outfits I settled on the best I could find. I squeezed on my high heels and then tottered up the road to drop Bel at Wendy's (my lovely neighbour). I could barely walk in the heels inside the house, I'm sure I was quite a sight teetering awkwardly up the street through the thick fresh snow! After a bit of snow shovelling (I left that to Neil) we were on our way. 

Banff is Canmore's more famous neighbour and is only about a 15 minute drive into the National Park. For those of you that haven't been there, at this time of year it's kind of like stepping into a Christmas card. I mean Canmore is beautiful and I actually prefer it for it's more real-town feel but Banff has got to be one of the most picturesque towns in Canada. The hotel itself is about as close to a fairytale castle as you'll find in this part of the world. It sits a little above the town site and juts majestically out of the mountainside in all it's rundlestone grandeur.

Once inside we were greeted with a hot chocolate station complete with bowls of marshmallows, dark chocolate shavings and thick whipped cream! Now that's my kind of Christmas breakfast! It was pretty manic with the entire Kindergarten contingent of Canmore and their parents chatting and decorating cookies but somehow the teachers managed to pose each class for a photo, heres Seb and his all his classmates looking extra cute! 

After the photos all the kids were gathered on the stage to perform their Christmas songs and oh my gosh it was adorable! I took a really long video which I will try to edit down to a manageable clip and post later. They all sang brilliantly and had actions to go along with all their songs. 

Next came a surprise visit from Santa with a  hilarious question and answer session to discuss how he gets into all those houses without chimney's and with house alarms! 

After saying goodbye to Seb's teacher and all his little buddies, we headed home along the Bow Vally on this most glorious of winter days.