Advent Activities: Happy Solstice!

On this the shortest day of the year, the sun is shining brightly overhead reminding us that the light comes back. To celebrate, we've got lots of plans today, from making our own candles (the rolled kind, not the melted-wax kind) to eating round and golden foods like oranges, grapefruit, and cornbread, to go with our beef stew and beanbag soup. We might even make gingerbread cake (from a box; don't have a good recipe and I like the box, but I'm making the hard sauce myself). Best of all, for the kids anyway, we've promised they can stay up "late" (and since they can't tell time, it won't have to be that late) in their jammies downstairs. I think we'll read The Great Redwall Feast and, of course, dance to "The Christians and the Bagels."