Every year I promise myself all of the fun things I am going to do with the kids during the Holiday Break. I am completely blessed in that I work for a higher education institution that grants us 2 1/2 weeks off to be with our families. Having two little's, I do not take this for granted at all. Last year, I was soooo lazy with being newly pregnant that I just lounged on the couch, took EV on multiple trips to Target and really didn't do anything spectacular. This year, with EV understanding the concept of Christmas and Santa, I have vowed to create a Christmas Bucketlist and promised myself that we will take in everything that sparkles, jingles and says HO HO HO. Basically, I have promised myself to be more present.
Christmas decorating is always the first thing crossed off my bucketlist as we have several large storage containers in the garage that house nothing but Christmas decor. I start decorating pretty much the moment we get back from Disney (December 1st). Now some people would not consider this part of a Christmas bucketlist item, but I like to aim low at the beginning of the holiday so I can lull myself into a false sense of crossing things off early on. I promised myself last year that we would invest in more outdoor decor, so as Target started there 50%-70% decorations I started collecting pieces here and there including this larger than life Darth Vader with Death Star which has served a two fold in terrifying my husband every-time he goes outside of the house in the evening. Target also started their holiday decorations discount early and although Princess Anna was only 30% off, she was difficult to find in any store, so I just purchased her early and EV was besides herself (Princess Anna is a new face around these parts). We have it right next to our front door since a couple of our ring "notification/alerts" have let us know of neighbors just a few miles away who have had theirs taken from the front lawn. I love Christmas decor and honestly it is one of those things that I do not think there can be enough of. Our Christmas tree is only four feet. We have low ceilings and honestly I am barely hitting five feet and since I am the one that decorates the tree (Hubs tried to help me with this once and I ended up moving all of his decorations which extended the tree decorating and made me grumpy, so he's been since kicked off the trimming team). Also, there is no way I want to spend hours decorating a tree that is also warmly known as "keep EV's hands off the tree." The Hubs and I took a page from a friend of ours playbook and rather then collect tchatkes from our traveling adventures that end up collecting the dust, we get an ornament from every place/event that is special and that we experience together. At the end of the year we have decorations that reflect on all the fun things we have done together over the years and we can relive them. Many of the ornaments are fragile and with EV's exploratory nature now, we opted to not have these ornaments on the tree and instead bought all the cute, fuzzy, and less breakable ornaments from the Wondershop at Target. EV can explore to her hearts content and we do not have to worry about shattered memories (literally).
Several months ago, my awesome MIL had already accomplished one of those things and surprised us with tickets to partake in the Polar Express. If you do not know what this, what it entails, or want to find out if your city has one, you can get more information HERE. I have been so excited for this and in preparation, we had been reading EV The Polar Express every evening. A couple things to keep in mind is that anyone under 2 is a lap baby and those 2 y/o and older will need their own seat. Also, stroller and car seats are not permitted on the train since a lot of holiday activities are going on and the performance of the Polar Express takes place in the aisles. Most importantly, jammies are strongly encouraged and anytime I can put the kids in matching jammies is a must see event for me. We brought our babycarrier since they request that you arrive at the train an hour earlier and I didn't want to have to worry about juggling the baby between everyone for an hour. We ended up not using the carrier at all as the Brightline station had all been redone with plenty of seating and charging stations. If you are looking for that one thing to do with your family that has all the holiday magic, I highly suggest purchasing tickets for this, but make sure it is in the evening, seeing everything outside of the train in daylight kind of took away from what was happening on the train.
Our neighborhood is one of those family-centered (June Cleaver) type neighborhoods that everyone loves to visit during the Holidays and Christmas is no exception. There are plenty of decorations and lights to see, so it make sit easy to take the kids at night and go explore all the lights, however we did want to also go somewhere that had lights as well as being able to meet Santa. Yes, we did the Epcot Santa and I am fully aware that I stated he is my favorite, but I kind of wanted the local Santa not at the mall experience as well (because I am extra like that, this would change in just a few minutes...hold please). We decided on the Flamingo Gardens Holiday Lights because, it is close to the house, it checks the boxes of lights and Santa (an extra would be the animals) and it does not run too late into the night (Watchmen's final episode was that night and we have had a watch party every episode for it). Every year, I talk about venturing down to ZooMiami or Miami in general and partaking in their festivities, but honestly driving to Miami gives me the heebie jeebies and I am not about that life.
::sigh:: I should have been over Santa, but EV loves talking about "Santa Claus" (she literally says his full name), and I heard the Bass Pro Shops was supposed to be spectacular (we will get back to this) and a girl friend of mine called me and asked if I wanted to meet her at Westfield Broward Mall to take the kids to Santa there. Yes, I stated I was anti-mall Santa, but I would soon stand very VERY corrected...my humblest apologies mall Santa of awesomeness. I will preface that this is the first time I had both kids out and about on my own, our tandem stroller is a tank and heavy as heck (you should have seen me try to get this back in the car), and in typical Florida fashion what was supposed to be a nice day was a day filled with rain. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much out of this moment and sometimes it is those times that make for the very best emories. First, I will preface that I was a little taken aback how much Santa pictures have gone up, but I will say for the package of $44, I did get the digitals as well as some hard copies (5X7's, 4X6's, and wallets) and the digital package comes with all sorts of digital stickers and borders that can be added to the pictures, so all in all it wasn't terrible. The experience is what made it stellar and I would have paid that amount ten times over. When I tell you how magical Santa was, those words are putting it mildly. He loved on EV and the baby and spent a great deal of time interacting to them and getting to "know them", had no problem holding them both and kept them entertained while myself and the photographer made adjustments. That's right, I said adjustments. She was so professional, sweet and truly a perfectionist at the craft (I think a lot of people wouldn't have taken Santa photos at the mall as seriously as her). She took a multitude of photos for me to choose from (even when I requested 1 or 2 more, she happily obliged and kept me at her screen so I could see the results and assured that I was happy with them) and she had me running back and forth from Santa to where she was standing so that the kids not only looked great in the photo, but were looking at the camera. Once both ours and my girl friends pictures were purchased, Santa ran to meet me on the other side and asked if I had my phone with me (personal phone cameras were not allowed) and asked if I wanted to take a Santa Selfie. Did I?! When Santa requests a Santa Selfie, one does not refuse that request and risk being on the 'naughty list." It may sound hokey to some, but it is hard to put into words how magical the moment was, from the pictures, to the Santa experience, to the professionalism and personality of the photographer, I couldn't imagine not having done this.
Bass Pro Shop on the other hand, was a whole other situation. Because you get a "free" picture, Bass Pro Shop tends to be super busy, especially on the weekends. My mom and I packed up the kids super early (again it was raining, welcome to Florida) and we were there when it opened. You can find more information on how this works at your local Bass Pro Shop HERE. At ours, you go back to "Santa's Wonderland" (trust me the air/literal quotes are necessary) to a kiosk where you sign in and get in a virtual line. Santa starts seeing the kids at 10am and since we got there at 9:30am on a Thursday, we were lucky in that there was only one person in front of us and we only had a half hour wait. During this time, I made sure the baby was fed and comfortable and let Ellie play around the fish area which she loved. Sounds good right?! Happy kids, not a long wait, EV hadn't touched her hair at all...don't get comfortable folks. So the text message reminder alerts us that it is our time and we go back to the Santa station where the couple before us are having their pictures with Santa. I thought it was adorable, their older son was super cute and all smiles and their little babe was not having it being held by a stranger and was screaming bloody murder. I loved it, but the mother looked completely stressed, the photographer was irritated with the parents for being too close to her "shot" and honestly the whole thing felt rushed (at least give the mama a minute to try and get her babe settled). When it was our turn, Santa decided to take this moment to give a 5 minute TEDTalk about how there were many people in line (there was literally two families behind us and that was all) and to keep things moving and not to be offended when Santa doesn't ask them what they want for Christmas because he doesn't have time for the "Ummm's." I am a 100% serious that this situation occurred and I couldn't make this up if I tried. Seems to me that Santa may need a cocktail at the end of his shift. Oh and the photographer takes the photo so quick that you don't even have time to make sure your kids are smiling at the camera and they do not even care. "Move along" is basically what I was told. Luckily, Santa obliged a 30 second photoshoot on my camera phone and those pictures came out ten times better than theirs. All in all, the area is cute, but I definitely would not go back next year and honestly, at least with ours, I felt the advertisement for it on the website was a smidge misleading. I was super thankful for our experience at the Broward Mall or I would've called Bass Pro and spoke to someone as having Santa give a schpeel like that in front of kids is highly unprofessional and should have been given to one of the "elves" to do.
All the Holiday baking is on my list. I went to Homegoods the other day and purchased a cute Mama and Me Christmas cookies set (it comes with child-safe cookie cutters, matching aprons, etc.) as well as a Cookies for Santa Plate (I am a sucker for these and have several variations) and a Santa's Milk Jug. The plate has a chalboard center for kids to write messages to Santa on. We have the Guidegraft Kitchen Helper which EV loves since she can stand on it safely and help me bake/cook at our kitchen island. I have envisioned every year that we would partake in some really fun baking activities and make all different kinds of cookies and this year is going to be THE year that it actually happens. I plan to visit Sam's early on and get all the ingredients one could want so I do not have to worry about being lazy about getting to the market (I gave up on Shipt). Even though I purchased ready to bake Star Wars cookies for Santa Claus (thanks Tar-Jay) I want to start putting my Kitchenaid mixer to work and getting EV away from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. One can only take so many "Oh Toodles." A plethora of everything and anything Disney on Disney+ and she only has eyes for the Clubhouse or the Roadster Racers.
Christmas is always stressful with time management and cooking and who is doing what, so this year the Hubs and I decided to take a different approach and grill out! I will do the sides in the crockpot and the rest of the day will be spent just enjoying one another and listening to Christmas music. I bought the Hubs a smoker for Christmas so I think I am also going to surprise him with some large kind of smoking meat (super technical vernacular I know) so that he can test it out.
Is it weird to say that trying to accomplish a Christmas charcuterie board is on my bucketlist?! Something about multiple cheeses, meats and olives on a board get me excited. Every year I promise myself I am going to attempt one and every year, I get board (get it?! #whodoesntloveagoodcharcuteriepun) and toss the idea to the wayside, but it is back on the list. I actually found this ONE on Pinterest and with a few minor adjustments (cheese's we will actually eat and omitting the jellies/marmalades), it is really the only thing I will have to focus on as the Hubs is in charge of the grilling station and the crockpots will be in charge of the sides (yes I said crockpot(s) as in multiple #dontjudge).
Watching fake fire on tv with hot cocoa while listening to Christmas music (let's be honest, its basically Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" on repeat) is always one of my favorite things on my Christmas Bucketlist because #floridaliving. Anyone else on Christmas Eve love watching the Yule Log tv station on repeat with hot cocoa, Christmas music and all the sugar cookies one can stuff in one's face?! No one else? Just me? That's cool! I just about (okay, I totally did) squealed in delight when I discovered that Disney+ had the Arendelle Yule Log station. It is basically the fireplace from Frozen...from the "some people are worth melting for" scene. So let me get this straight...I get Baby Yoda AND a Disney yule log station?! Best. Christmas. Ever and again the best $6.99 I have ever spent.
Outdoor movie nights are always on my list, bucketlist or not. Seriously the outdoor movie setup we have is the best thing we ever purchased for our backyard. With that being said, the rain is putting a damper on all the outdoor Christmas movie nights I planned with the fam. Hopefully at least a couple days before Christmas will result in non-rainy night where we can watch Christmas movies outdoors with cocoa and popcorn (EV's current favorite snack). I bought all the cocoa fixings as EV can actually enjoy it this year and I thought a cocoa bar would be really fun to put together for her.
Lastly, there are a bunch of Christmas art projects that I found on Pinterest that I am hoping will keep EV occupied for longer than a minute and a half and will be something that can be keepsakes later one. For Baby D I had bought early in the season multiple handprint kits to create Baby D's First Christmas Ornaments for the grandmother's and us. The handprint kits can usually be found the middle of November/beginning of December in the Target's Dollar Spot area (they are normally $3). I actually buy extra since they make great gifts and they end up running out of these fairly quickly. I believe Michael's has these year round (we are just at Target so frequently its easiest to scoop it up there and I believe cheaper) and TJ Maxx also tends to carry them in spurts, but they are never guaranteed so I do not rely on them there.
Lastly, I plan to create a Christmas Eve box for the kids that will have our matching family jammies and slippers in it, fun Christmas socks and treats for EV. I thought it would be fun to have something for EV to open the night before to get her excited about Santa's visit and there is something I have always loved about having fresh fun Christmas jammies for the day of. I bought all of this again super early on at Target (end of October/beginning of November). Baby D's did not have pants in his size, so I bought the 12mth and 3T for EV so we could have them for next year too and at $5 it was dumb not too as our Target sold out pretty much when people got wind they were there. Stalking our Target's location through the app paid off as the minute the fleece Christmas Mickey pants hit the store I went and grabbed them (the Santa's Fan Club t-shirts and newest member onesie were all $5 apiece too, but had to be ordered online) :). The kids matching Harry Potter jammies for the Polar Express also were purchased during this time (these were part of the family matching Christmas pajama collection). The bottoms are polar fleece or else I would have gotten the Polar Express ones for Hubs and I too, but between the long-sleeves, fleece, and living on the sun here in Florida, it makes me overheated just thinking about it. The slippers were also sold out very quickly online and similar with the other items on the list, I didn't hesitate to grab these the minute I saw them and as typical with Target 'gramers and bloggers, once they post stuff you have a very slim window before it goes out of stock never to be seen from again. I actually bought the women's and men's sizes in two sizes as slippers in Target tend to run small, which they did and I just returned the smaller/accurate sized ones. In doing so, it kept them from going out of stock while I was waiting for the first shipment to arrive and they were not so expensive that I was worried about it, plus with the shoes being BOGO 50% and my RedCard, it worked out anyway.
Welp that is it, off to check some stuff off the whole Christmas bucketlist!