I think we fit as much holiday activities as possible into this year - it was a very busy season! With the kids so young and so excited for Christmas, we wanted to make the season as magical as possible. Here are some of the highlights from the weeks leading up to Christmas 2017:
- Washington Crossing Tree Lighting!
We kept last year's tradition of attending our little town's tree lighting the day after Thanksgiving. It is a short and fun event that kicks off the holiday season. There was free food and drinks, fire trucks to climb into, a count down to the tree lighting, and a visit with Santa all in under an hour - that's efficiency :)
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| First Santa visit of the Season! |
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| Nolan in the firetruck - Thumbs up! |
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| Emmy in the firetruck - thumbs up! |
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| Our beautiful and huge tree in town |
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| Happy to start the Christmas season! |
I think this one needs to become a tradition for future years. The kids absolutely loved watching the Christmas parade and it couldn't have been easier to park and walk over. It certainly didn't hurt that the weather was mild and enjoyable to be outdoors! The kids got a million candies and freebies throw by the floats and Emmy danced to the marching bands and music being played by all the vintage cars and floats.
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| Finding leaves before the parade. Who could find the biggest?! |
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| Mommy cuddles before the parade started |
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| Front row seats :) |
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| Emmy's favorite was the marching band! |
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| It's not a Philly-area parade without Mummers! |
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| Mickey! |
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| The highlight of the parade! Santa on a vintage fire truck |
This is our second year having this party with friends. It's a secret santa for the kids and so much fun - all friends from daycare.
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| Nolan's gift! |
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| He got legos and a Ninjago activity book! |
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| Emmy's present |
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| A huge playdoh set! |
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| The crew! From top left: Elliot, Marcus, Mason, Jaiden, Penny, Shane. Bottom: Teddy, Violette, Hazel, Emmy, Nolan, (unknown friend) |
- Polar Express Event at School
This was a new event the school did this year. Each kid got a Polar Express ticket and traveled the different trainstops to each classroom to do different holiday activities (arts and crafts, games, etc). One classroom had a huge cardboard Polar Express Train that the parents made! Super impressive and the kids loved it! It even had a bubble machine in the funnel!
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| Kids ready for the Polar Express at School in their PJs! |
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| Santa Bowling in Nolan's Classroom |
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| Reindeer Ring Toss in Nolan's Classroom |
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| Arts and Crafts and Snacks! |
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| Emmy in the Polar Express Train! |
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| Nolan is impressed! |
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| Bubbles from the Polar Express Tunnel! |
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Keeping up our tradition of visiting Santa for a professional photo (at a different mall every year!), we headed over to Princeton for this year's Santa. This was probably the longest we've waited for Santa in line, but the kids were great, especially when to kill time while Joe waited in line I took them to Barnes & Noble which surprisingly had a huge toys section ;) Great for last minute Christmas gift ideas!
The kids were great with Santa and surprised us with what they asked for after seeing the Barnes & Noble toys - Nolan asked for the PJ Masks toy he saw and Emmy asked for the Peppa Pig toy she saw, so someone had to make a trip back to Barnes & Noble the next day to fulfill the request ;)
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| Santa Photo 2017: Market Fair in Princeton |
After Santa we stopped at Qdoba in the mall and I snapped this cute series of a very happy Emmy. She pulls off that big red bow pretty well! <3
- Santa's Neighborhood Fire Truck Ride
As in many communities, the local fire department drives Santa around to all the neighborhoods to visit the kids before Christmas. The kids were excited to see him drive by our house and excitedly waved at all the firetrucks and emergency vehicles with their lights and sirens on.
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| Ready for Santa with his Christmas Tree headband ;) |
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| Ready for Santa! |
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| Here he comes! |
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| Hi Santa!!! |
To close out this blog post (believe it or not, there are even more events/experiences from this year's Christmas to include in more posts), we did one of my favorite Christmas traditions - driving through the Shady Brook Light Show! We pass this farm every day to and from school and once the lights get turned on, they can't wait to go. It is so fun - nice and warm car (my favorite!), christmas carols on the radio, and about 15min worth of driving past christmas lights! The lights have themes including "12 days of Christmas", "7 wonders of the world", light tunnels, magical forests, kids characters, etc. The kids get sad when it's over (and so do I!)
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| Mt Rushmore |
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| Light Tunnel with the Grinch peaking through |
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| Enchanted forest and light tunnel |
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| Peace on Earth <3 |
Whew! It was a busy holiday and there's plenty more to document. Hoping the kids look back fondly on happy Christmas memories as they grow. I know this season fills my heart immeasurably.
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