Party Like a Rock Star!

The holiday season is truly upon us! Friday evening marked the beginning of Hanukkah, and the tots at 2: Cool for School ushered in the Festival of Light with the story, The Magic Dreidels, by, Eric A. Kimmel.
While Rose left Explorers Club early in the evening on Friday to begin the holiday weekend with her family, Tessa, Haven and the rest of the crew indulged their artistic sides baking and then decorating sugar cookies. New interns Regine and Taquesha mixed up batches of brightly colored royal icing for the Explorers to paint onto the cookies shaped like stars, candy canes, gingerbread houses and hearts! When the painting was done, Simone, Shelton and the rest of the bunch dusted the tops of the treats with colored sprinkles for good measure. When the decorating was done, the Explorers couldn't get home fast enough to show off the creations to proud parents. Shelton, Kisha's youngest daughter, was the exception, pitching such a fuss when Kisha picked her up on Friday night that her fellow Explorers must have been worried that Santa might add her name to his naughty list! That baby girl is so smart, cute and well-behaved every day, so I'm sure Kris Kringle made an allowance for one cranky afternoon!
The celebratory mood continued on Saturday morning at the Underhill play space, as 3-year-old Billy celebrated his birthday! He partied like a rock star to a guitarist/vocalist specializing in children's songs led him and his friends in a slew of favorites including "This Land is Your Land", "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", "ABCs", and "Happy Birthday". Can it be difficult to find child-friendly music that doesn't leave parents reaching for the ear buds? Natch. Did Billy's birthday performer pull it off? With flying colors!
With the final full week before Christmas ahead of us, and many of our Explorers' families busy baking, decorating and shopping, our Explorers will also be busy working on holiday crafts, learning winter songs and getting ready for this Friday's Explorers Club holiday party! With Cole, Tessa and Liliana and Simone all heading away for a couple of weeks this holiday season, Friday will be a last chance for all of our Explorers to spend time with each other before the New Year, and we can't wait for the fun to begin!