In the Caribbean, Three Kings Day (also known as Epiphany) is an imported tradition that originated with the Spanish settlers. For centuries, the children have celebrated the holiday in the same manner as their ancestors before them. Traditionally, January 6 is celebrated as the day in which the Magi arrived bearing gifts for baby Jesus and it is the day when the island children receive their gifts. It is a tradition older than Santa Claus. Since Kevin and his side of the family is from Puerto Rico, this is a fun tradition that our family has always celebrated. And it has become quite meaningful over the years to our girls. The bigness of the Christmas season has passed and yet they get to carry on the celebration just a bit longer with one special night of gathering grass for the camels and leaving it outside at the front door for them to eat, only to wake up to a very special gift that the wise men leave symbolizing the gifts they gave to Jesus in return.
This year's celebration was lots of fun as usual. The girls made letters for the wise men, left food for the camels (look closely at the pictures. This year the camels got to eat caramels and peppermint) and the gift the received was pretty cool if I do say so myself.
And just last week we got to go as a family to enjoy the gift in Denver. . . Mary Poppins the Musical
It was SUPERcalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Family is so just so great!
And if you are a Mary Poppins lover like us, you've gotta watch this clip from the musical. . .my favorite scene. BEWARE - You'll be singing it all day long!
(FYI - you can skip the very first part where the man is talking - go straight to the good stuff at 0:56)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VNGIQ51aiw
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