With Christmas less than two weeks away, the countdown has truly begun. In fact, most parents and children are now running around faster than their electric meters in anticipation of the arrival of Old Kris Kringle. As a result, many mothers, fathers, and other guardians are currently in the process of trying to figure out how to alleviate some of their children’s excess excitement before they go out to get the gifts that their children are so excited about. Fortunately, if you are running around trying to find a way to keep your kids busy or, at the very least, find a way to keep them from tearing your house apart, there are a couple of holiday events this weekend that are sure to help.
First, if your children really love to see all of the holiday decorations and/or you prefer holiday decorations when their attached to someone else’s electric meter, the Somerville Illuminations Tour may be the way to go. This tour, which begins at Somerville City Hall, will allow you and your family to see all of the decorated houses in East or West Somerville (depending on the tour your choose) from the comfort of a trolley car. Best of all, you will not only be able to see all of the lights without driving around aimlessly, but will also be able to enjoy coffee, cookies, hot chocolate, kid’s crafts, and music while you wait for the trolley to arrive. For more information on the tour, which runs from 4:30 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. on Saturday (December 14, 2013), please visit the Somerville Arts Council website.
Secondly, if you’re looking for something to do later in the weekend or you had a traumatic experience with holiday decorating at some point (perhaps you never found the one bulb that burned out), the Charles Hotel in Cambridge may have the event for you. This is because the Charles Hotel is officially opening their ice rink on Sunday and, in honor of the occasion, the Hotel is hosting an Ice Rink Opening Party from 12:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. This party will allow you and your family to skate for free, drink hot chocolate, watch professional skaters demonstrate their skill on the ice, and keep your kids busy with arts and crafts if skating really isn’t their thing. For more information on the Ice Rink Opening Party at the Charles Hotel, please visit the Ice Rink Opening Party’s Yelp Page.
Photo credit: Minnesota Historical Society / Foter.com / CC BY-SA