Our boys deemed this Christmas the “greatest Christmas ever” which, as dad and mom, makes your coronary heart sing.
Previous to Christmas, Ryan and I applied one thing we’ve by no means finished earlier than with the youngsters that made our Christmas Eve a lot extra relaxed so it felt price sharing in case you discovered your self up till midnight the evening earlier than the massive day. We instructed the boys we would have liked about 2 hours of “non-public guardian time” downstairs (yuuup, I understand how that sounds — ha!) to maintain wrapping and organizing the Saturday earlier than Christmas. We gave the boys the choice to go to a drop-in childcare place within the space or play collectively upstairs. They selected enjoying at residence and appeared all giddy concerning the concept of a few of their Christmas presents being out in full-view downstairs as they got here up with 1,000,000 and one video games upstairs. It was such a game-changer to have every part DONE days earlier than Christmas and we’ll one hundred pc do it once more.
We additionally took the boys to Nice Wolf Lodge for our annual Snowland go to however shifted our ordinary in a single day weekend to some hours of daytime play since we didn’t need to depart Comet for too lengthy simply but.
For anybody with youngsters who additionally LOVE MagiQuest at GWL, our little ‘”hack” is to pay to activate our youngsters’ wands ($15/pp) after which perform a little arcade time earlier than leaving. This takes the waterpark out of the combo but in addition makes visiting GWL lots much less expensive and nonetheless super-fun for the MagiQuest lovers on the market like our boys. (And for individuals who could also be contemplating a visit to GWL sooner or later, right here’s an outdated put up I wrote sharing our expertise: Nice Wolf Lodge)
A couple of days earlier than Christmas, I used to be down for the depend with the aforementioned funky illness and needed to miss out on just a few household actions which bummed me out, most notably attending the Panthers/Bucs recreation with our crew and a cookie adorning get together.
I all the time say so long as nausea and vomiting usually are not concerned, I’ll take it and fortunately all of us prevented any tummy troubles. And everybody was wholesome (aside from some lingering congestion) on Christmas Eve and Christmas, so we’re counting ourselves fortunate.
(Sweater: Goal — at the moment clearance and can be so cute for Valentine’s Day, too! / Pants: Albion / Booties: Amazon / Purse: My grandma’s)
Yearly, we ask the boys what they’re feeling when it comes to vacation journey to Florida and, but once more, they have been all up for making the drive to my dad and mom’ place on Christmas Day. Since everybody was awake by 6 a.m., it nonetheless felt like we had a sluggish and relaxed Christmas morning earlier than we bought on the street round midday. (We simply needed to be okay with understanding we’d be returning to a catastrophe of a home.)
Additionally, I attempted the viral heavy cream cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning this yr — I simply poured 1 cup of heavy cream over 2 cans of Annie’s cinnamon rolls earlier than baking — and I’ll 1,000% make them this fashion once more.
They jogged my memory a lot of the sort of cinnamon rolls you’d purchase from a bakery and have been 1,000,000 instances much less work than made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls. Plus, the boys preferred them much more!
Our drive to Florida was a breeze — perks of Christmas Day journey — and we arrived in time for Christmas dinner with my household. The following day we saved the Christmas cheer going and did Christmas 2.0 with my dad and mom and sister’s household. Everyone seems to be at such enjoyable ages for vacation magic proper now and seeing all of the cousins collectively was such a pleasure.
As all the time, looking for the hidden pickle decoration was one other spotlight!
(A handful of journeys to Jeremiah’s for gelati needed to occur!)
(Rhett and Ryder braved the freezing pool water for their very own “Polar Plunge” and have been so giddy! Chase takes after his mother and can’t stand chilly water so was like, “Yeahhh, no thanks.”)
One difficult factor to navigate throughout our time in Florida was Mr. Comet. After we instructed my dad and mom about our latest furry member of the family, we weren’t certain if that may affect staying with them throughout our annual Christmas journey to Florida however they inspired us to convey our 12-week outdated pet alongside, understanding full-well potty coaching and chewing are in full swing. We’re so grateful to them for embracing Comet so properly however even with their endurance and kindness, bringing a pet into another person’s residence had us on excessive alert. (Pee on our carpets, certain, however another person’s carpet? Nooooo.) Fortunately he did rather well, all issues thought of, and even loved some romps on the seashore with Pepper!
We left Florida after every week and arrived residence simply earlier than the brand new yr. This gave us a handful of days of unstructured time for our household of 5 and it was time Ryan and I actually valued. Ryan’s work is probably the most relaxed throughout the week between Christmas and New 12 months’s so we had a mini staycation of kinds and stuffed our days with the boys with yard soccer, varied card video games at residence, Legos, ice skating on the Whitewater Middle (SO FUN!), filth bike rides, path walks, somewhat crafting, cooking and extra.
And we additionally spent a LOT of time organizing and purging and taking down Christmas. After we un-decorated our lounge and kitchen, Chase stated, “It seems to be just like the Grinch got here to our home,” and man I felt that. I really like vacation decor and the cheer, coloration and coziness it provides to our residence. I as soon as had a pal say “Christmas decorations fill within the blanks of a house” and now I all the time really feel that every yr we beautify and un-decorate.
Now winter break is almost over and I’m somewhat prepared for the return of routines however principally simply over right here wishing we may prolong this day without work. I all the time prefer to take stock of how we dealt with the vacations annually — what labored properly, what didn’t — and the factor that caught out most to me is to attempt our greatest to construct in a number of days of nothingness at residence with all 5 of us throughout day without work. One thing about our youngsters rising older has me more and more conscious that the time they like to spend with simply our little household unit will slowly morph and alter as their friendships turn into deeper and more and more vital. That is to be anticipated and is an efficient factor, I do know, nevertheless it additionally makes me need to maintain on tightly to the time now we have with our boys in these youthful years and totally respect them for what they’re — a present and the precise factor that issues most.
I hope you’re coming into 2026 feeling prepared for the brand new yr and are studying this weblog put up after some rejuvenating time away from the chaos and calls for of on a regular basis life. Thanks for coming into one other yr with me. I’m wishing all of you a really, very Comfortable New 12 months!!
