Christmas Vacation: Part One

I’m up late, enjoying the last night of our Christmas tree lights 😭, and have August Rush playing (love!) so I thought I would use my extreme night owl capabilities to write a post (or three) to recap our Christmas break. 

Christmas was so great! We were with my side of the family in snowy Colorado and it was the first white Christmas for me and all the kids which was an awesome plus, too.

We kid of last minute decided to drive through the night to beat a bad snow storm in between Lubbock and a Denver. The kids were champs in the car, as is the case 95% of the time since they are pretty used to road trips and we have a tv and DVD player (what I would have given for one of those things as a kid!)

We got to my parents at around 3am the Thursday before Christmas, just in time to sleep (barely) and wake up to a pretty snowfall which required a trip to my high school’s soccer field to go tubing. The boys had a blast, but I think my Dad had the most fun. 

On Thursday night we made a trip to Hudson Gardens (which is where me and Bryan were married!) to see alllllll of the lights which were very luckily surrounded by snow and so pretty. It was FREEZING but we were good and bundled thanks to a Target trip earlier in the day (we are turning into the unprepared for cold weather Texans). Everyone had a lot of fun except for Hayes, who was completely exhausted and cold and totally 3-years-old. ;)

Parker finished his scavenger hunt! (And so did Pops—they both were rewarded with a piece of candy. 😂 )

 

The whole family (!), including Jeremy, Julie’s boyfriend, who is, according to Parker, “my favorite grown up”. 

We ate really good Mexican food at Los Dos Potrilos (CO is finally improving their Mexican food options!) and ended the day exhausted but happy. 

On Friday, we had the well-intentioned but maybe not brightest idea to take a trip to the mall. 😬 We expected it to be crazy, but it was CRAZY, and Hayes were ready for naps like 10 minutes before we got there, ha! I love love love Park Meadows when it is decorated for Christmas though, so it was still fun to see (it’s such a pretty mall—built like a giant ski lodge) and I loved getting to be in the hustle and bustle of Christmas one last time before the big day.

Parker was in heaven admiring everything in the LEGO store, too, and Hayes was happy to throw pennies (like 30 of them) into the little indoor pond. 

The above photo is literally the only one I got from our mall trip 😂😂😂, winning!

On Friday night, we had SUCH a treat: we went to my best friend from high school’s house and got to see her, meet her fiancé (!), and eat dinner with her parents who were like a second set of parents to me back in the day! It was a really good night and her house brought back so many memories! Also, my best friends’ name is Katie and her fiancé’s name is Brian. How funny is that? They are getting married in April in Mexico and I am so excited for them!

We went to a late movie that night with my baby sister (she’s 25 so not really a baby but I will always think of her as a 10-year-old) and saw the Justice League movie. We all enjoyed it and Bryan and I were thankful for a mini date night (sister and all). 

On Saturday, it snowed a bit more so the boys played outside and then we got ready for our big drive to Canon to ride the Santa Express train. Parker has been excited for this for months since he is our train fan (like mega fan, he was on our local news last year for his Halloween costume choice which led to a seperate news segment where he got to be a guest conductor on The Polar Express). 

It didn’t disappoint and is really fun for any kid. Also, the views were beautiful (you ride through the mountains) and they had an open air car that you could go out on which the boys loved. AND they had a full menu and bar which was 👍🏻.

Parker loved seeing Santa and has been really good at talking to him this year. He was also so funny because he knew the drill... “Oh yes, Santa is going to come on the train and give me a bell.” And, “Mom, don’t lose our tickets because the conductor will need to punch them for us to stay on the train.” 

Hayes was not 100% into everything but he did have a good time, especially in the open air car and also while playing with his (accidentally) stolen light up toy from the gift shop (don’t worry Nonnie went back and paid for it!)

We stopped and ate at a pub in the cute little downtown and then head back to my Mom and Dad’s, once again, exhausted but happy!

My parents (especially my Mom) went all out making sure we had a lot of fun activities lined up which I am so thankful for! She also made the house look extra festive—and I wish I had gotten a photo of the outdoor lights because my Dad spent a lot of time on them for the kids. 

Here’s the tree in the kids room. Do you see a theme? Hint: 90’s collectible toy that we just HAD to have. ;)

Will share more of our Christmas later! Running out of steam...