21st Day: Whoville Holiday

 

    On our twenty-first day we made our annual trip to Whoville; something we have done since Marshall was only two months old!

    Marshall loved walking into Whoville; there was so much to do!  Multiple craft tables and even Ms. Helen (from the Winter Solstice celebration) was on hand to help the children make who-hats.  She  remembered Marshall; approaching me to say how excited she was to see us there and gushing over Marshall's charm.  Marshall had so much fun coloring on mirrors, decorating a Grinch mask, and other crafts.

Marshall decorating a Grinch mask

Coloring on a mirror easel

    The most fun to be had, hands down for Mads, was Mount Grumpet.  A slide inspired by the Grinch's home.  Marshall went up and down that slide over and over . . . and over.

Sliding down Mt. Grumpet

    Finally, it was time for the Grinch to come out for pictures.  This year he even brought Cindy Lou Who along!  As soon as the Grinch came out from behind the curtains Marshall started crying and clung for dear life to Brad.  I mean, he was NOT going to let Brad hand him over to the green beast and his hair raising friend.

The Grinch: scaring children and Whos alike since 1957

    I quickly snapped the (blurry) picture so we could leave without triggering too many other kids into tears.  Mads seems pretty good at traumatizing his peers at holiday photo events.  Merry Christmas kids!

    As we walked out of arm's reach of the Grinch, Marsh stopped crying and tried to soak in the Whoville scene a little more thoughtfully before we left.

    Whoville is located in City Market (who knew?) so we had to treat ourselves to Carrollo's while we were there.  Carrollo's is an authentic Italian groceria and deli- complete with old man Frank, head of the Carrollo's family, often seen yelling in Italian and loudly beckoning customers over.  We got our ah-mazing deli sandwiches and cannoli before calling it a day and heading home before the winter storms blew in.

Checking out all the delicious deli meats- complete with Nano'
favorite: hot capicola and mom's favorite: chicken spiedini

    The twenty-first day was another Grinchy day- in more ways than one.  Marshall had some great moments in Whoville and some that terrified the poor little guy, but all in all he had a great time at his third annual trip to Suess's whimsical land.  It was hard for Brad and I to believe that this was our third year celebrating a Whoville Christmas with our boy, and a day of reminiscing on past memories.  The twenty-first day was a day of very minor challenges that were made better with some tasty Italian cuisine, which can pretty much fix anything right?