Winter Vacation - The First Half

We are just about at the half-way point of the kids winter vacation, and while they have complained a bit of being bored,  it has been really fun.

Our family's Hanukkah celebration has come to an end, finally. Like many endings, it was bittersweet. The family gathering at the front bay window was an evening tradition I came to cherish - even as it came with squabbles over who was standing closer, whose turn it was to light the candles... you know, the usual holiday traditions.


Photo from American Vernacular Landscapes

My son brought home from preschool a homemade menorah I adore:

As for presents, we gave Kay, who is six, a rite-of-passage gift I was so happy to give her - a book light, signifying not only that she can read now but that now that she can read after lights-out. She beamed.

And for Magpie, who is eight, a literary upgrade as well - a reading chair from her grandma:

Big Duckie likes the chair, too:

Other things making the kids happy, Kay's new Huggie Pillow, "Peace-y"

And Magpie's new reading obsession, The Dork Diaries:

And Ziggy, he is loving Richard Scarry books and looking for Mr. Frumble's hat:

And I'm loving having gotten a couple of photos of all the kids together:

We've seen the holiday lights at the Turtle Back Zoo:

And we continued our annual Merry Zoo Day tradition, which is going on eight years now:

And already, I know there is one thing I'll be doing next year. I overheard Magpie whisper to her little sister on the last day of Hanukkah, "There's only one night left, I don't think there's much chance I'm getting that iTouch."

Sorry, kid. But I'm so planning on it for next year.
How is your winter vacation? Too long or too short? Or just right?