Kidding Around Vancouver Island » Christmas

The central island pantomime crawl continues

georgedad — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:37:12 +0000

Having taken a break for Christmas, it’s time to continue our central island pantomime crawl:

There’s Mother Goose at the Bailey Theatre in Nanaimo, from December 26 to January 3, with matinees most days.

Then it’s on to Chemainus for Rumpelstiltskin at the Chemainus Theatre Festival. It runs now until January 3rd, with special Family Nights on December 29, 30 and January 2 and 3rd – featuring games and snacks just before the 7pm shows. Tickets are just $10 or there’s a special deal of 4 for $30.

Finally, it’s off to Ladysmith’s Little Theatre for a production of Cinderella starting December 31st and running until January 4th.

Aladdin pantomime in Qualicum Beach

georgedad — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:50:47 +0000

Panto time is here! For those who’ve never been to a traditional Christmas pantomime, it’s a bit difficult to explain in words. Imagine being in a movie theatre and wanting to jump up and boo at Darth Vader or cheer wildly for Hans Solo – well at a pantomime you get to do just that. In fact, if you’re not participating you’re considered a panto-pooper or a histrionic-humbug, and that includes grown-ups. The other great tradition of these vaudevillian-style productions is that the male lead is played by a female and vice versa.

Now it just so happens that Central Vancouver Island is a hotbed of this old English tradition, so you’ve got quite the pick of pantos, including the Echo Players in Qualicum Beach. They’re doing Aladdin this year from Dec. 18 – 31 at the Village Theatre. BTW, Aladdin is one of the most popular pantomime stories of all time.

North Island Wildlife Center has holiday hours

kimmom — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:33:42 +0000

Our kids always enjoy a visit to the North Island Wildlife Center and during the holiday season this year they’re extending their hours – Friday and Saturday they’re open until 8:30pm and Sunday 11am – 5pm. They’ve also decked the halls, so stop by and say hello, and consider giving the gift of an animal adoption.

BTW, with all the recent snow, which can make things difficult for animals, the centre is anticipating a rise in the number of rescues they’ll need to make. You can contact them at 250-248-8534.

Milner Christmas Magic lights up the woods

georgedad — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:54:38 +0000

Milner Gardens and Woodland always makes for a great family outing, but imagine filling the woods with lights and music – that’s what Milner Christmas Magic is all about, and the first of three weekends is upon us. Each night there’s a different musical group playing as you enjoy the walk through the magical grounds. Be sure to bring a flashlight, though, for any darker spots along the trail.

The first weekend is Friday Dec. 5 – Sunday the 7th, and then Dec. 12 – 14th, and finally Thursday Dec. 18th – Sunday the 21st. All times are from 5:00pm to 8:30pm, and admission is by donation.

Crafty outings for early December

kimmom — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:54:01 +0000

Christmas craft season has been in full swing here on the Island for a while now and just the other day the four of us were off to visit the Kris Kringle Craft Market in Qualicum Beach. When I say the “four of us” that means my mum was substituting for George, who often finds that chores around the yard don’t look so bad when the word ‘crafts’ is mentioned. Anyway, it was a girls’ trip out and we weren’t disappointed.

Ella was old enough this year to really get into the crafting experience. If it was fluffy, flowery, frilly or fancy, she was on it. She looked so sweet in her little dress, oohing and aahing at just about any table. And when she saw there was face painting too! Well, even a fancy girl’s allowed to let out a scream every so often. Grace on the other hand was on the lookout for the cool, the wacky, or the edible. She was particularly impressed with anything to do with pottery – we’ve been taking pottery classes and we have a much greater appreciation of how difficult it is to do!

While the Kris Kringle show is over now, there are still some craft shows you can catch for last minute shopping. There’s the Denman Island Christmas Craft Stroll this weekend, Dec. 6 and 7th and on Dec. 6th the 15th Annual Christmas Faire is on at Morning Glory School on Hilliers Rd. in Qualicum. Up in Courtenay, the 34th Annual Christmas Craft Fair continues until Dec. 31 at the Comox Valley Art Gallery. On Salt Spring Island, the Wintercraft show begins Dec. 6 and runs until Dec. 21 with over 100 artists on view. And the Errrington Hall Christmas Arts and Crafts Fair takes place on December 13th.

Breakfast with Santa, Lantzville style

georgedad — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 21:35:51 +0000

We always enjoy a good breakfast with Santa. The Rotary Club of Lantzville puts on a great event at Costin hall – tickets for the December 22 event are only $10 per family – and we’re looking forward to the pancakes and sausages again this year, but most importantly, the arrival of Santa. Each child gets a turn telling Santa what they’d like (while cameras of family members flash away below the stage) and they all gather on the floor to play with the balloons and toys from the treat bag. The only snag this year is that our eldest daughter is able to read now and she’s discovered that Santa is having breakfast at several places at once… more awkward questions.

The getting of the tree

kimmom — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 21:39:27 +0000

Happily free of awkward questions is the annual ritual of getting a Christmas tree. As we pulled into the lot, the kids don’t recognize it as our usual tree-picking spot, yet as we were paying for the tree on our way out, they were quick to remind the owner that he gave them chocolate treats last year. Oh, so you do remember! I was surprised how quickly we chose a tree this year. Usually we pour over every single one, debating the merits of each – height versus fullness, is that more blue than green – and then promptly forget the trees we first saw, and so start all over again. But this year we went, we saw, we bought (and got chocolates) in a matter of minutes.

Driving home, my husband did manage to raise one awkward question: why don’t we cut our own Christmas tree next year? Not realizing there would be no chocolate involved, the kids got very excited by the suggestion and asked me if I didn’t think that was a cool idea. Oh I was cool to the idea. My husband’s problem is that as a child he didn’t wade through knee-deep snow every year in the backwoods of Kitimat looking for the perfect tree, so he can blithely toss out these kinds of suggestions. We’ll see, I told the kids. We’ll see.