By admin Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Christmas is always a special time of year for my family. Ever since I was young we have gone all out with decorations, lights, gifts, and activities.  Our extended family would always come visit and we would have a full house for about a week in December.

There would always be things to do for the kids and adults like sledding, cards, movies, and hockey.  It was always fun and some of my best childhood memories came from our family Christmas celebrations.  As we grew up the celebrations grew smaller and years would be skipped as family members relocated to the U.S. and across Ontario.

This year is different though as we finally had agreed to all meet in Toronto where a few of us live. The group has grown much larger with new children and grandchildren so we divided everyone up between 3 houses and started the celebration last night with a trip to the Historic Black Creek Pioneer Village, which is located just 30 minutes Northwest from the heart of Toronto.

We felt like pioneers as we piled into our cars and started a caravan towards the Pioneer Village.  Historic Black Creek Pioneer Village is a re-creation of life in 19^th-century Ontario. It is a place that you would picture going to on a field trip for history class. Everything looks like it would have over 100 years ago. For Christmas the pioneer village throws a huge celebration for a week and has all sorts of activities for all ages, which made it a perfect destination for our entire group.

We decided to visit Santa first so we could get some pictures of fresh wide-eyed kids instead of crying and crabby ones. Christmas lights surrounded us as we walked towards Santa’s workshop and, other than the electricity, it really did feel like we had stepped back in time. Horse drawn wagons passed us on the street and the only thing that brought me back to reality was the amount of people looking at their cell phones. I wondered how this beautiful snow-covered village couldn’t drag their eyes from their phone screens.

Santa and his Elf were great and all of the kids made it through with no problem. Our plan had worked and now we could move on to the other cool stuff throughout the village. We saw a Tin Soldier puppet show in a ballroom and all of us, even the adults, got a real kick out of it. Next we saw the Black Creek Gingerbread Village, which was a miniature Pioneer Village made out of gingerbread.

There was no way after seeing the mini village that we weren’t going to all decorate our own gingerbread cookies. There was a small additional cost for each cookie but nothing that would break the bank. There is a lot you can tell about a person based on how they decorate a Christmas gingerbread cookie.

After we had decorated (and ate) our cookies we took turns taking a guided, horse drawn wagon ride around the village. Again there was another small additional charge and while all of the extra little charges can add up they still end up being worth it.

By this point the kids and adults were getting hungry and tired so we decided to call it a night and head to dinner. There are a ton of other activities at the Black Creek Pioneer Christmas Celebration that will be able to keep any age interested. It can be a little pricey, for adult $15 and for kids $11 plus additional costs for some activities, so be prepared for that. You can buy tickets there or order them online through Black Creek Pioneer Villages website.

If you have a big or small family there is always something to do around Ontario for Christmas and Black Creek is a great place to start.  My huge family and I will be doing a lot more this week and through Christmas and I will let you know about other things to do in Ontario soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Summer Fun Guide!