1. 🎄A Christmas Carol : the 4 of us and my parents did dinner and a show. This show has been a staple for years and years. #2 🎅🏼 Visit with Santa! The real deal. He met us at the door and told Cole, “Wow, you’ve been coming for 11 years”S and yea he has exactly! Shea loves the trains almost as much as Santa himself. #3 🚦Parade of Lights. This one always means the kick-off for the holidays to me. And this year, Lila, Charlotte, and Grandma joined us which made it extra fun!
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#4 🌹Christmas card photo “shoot”. It was not what I originally had in mind but I like how it came out! Also had another Santa date with Shea’s T-ball team. So cute. #5 🎄Christmas tree shopping. It was one and done. We loved the very first one we saw! #6 🚥 Bonac lights at EHHS. Second annual walk-though light show. I am almost positive Shea ate his weight in candy canes. Cole did a great job keeping up with the sugared up Shea since I was “working” the event too. #7 🎄tree decorating. Shea started asking to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving even came. I’m so thankful for him because he motivated the decorating process in its entirety. #8 Mystic Holiday Lantern light tours. We’ve never done this before but we were in CT for a party and the timing overlapped. It was a freezing cold night but they had enough inside stuff to give you opportunities to warm up. The village was lit up, the boats all had trees and carolers or story tellers, kids crafts and games, holiday/old timey snacks, and horse drawn carriage rides. It was pretty and simple and we always love a trio to Mystic so now we have another reason to visit in the winter! #9 ✨ Magic Tree Farm. I heard about this place a few years ago and we’ve gone ever since. (Our Christmas card was from there last year!) We hopped in a hayride this time and got to see the whole farm. As a bonus, the kids made a sweet dog friend! #10 🍠Gingerbread University and drive-through light show. Tradition central right here. We’ve been doing these things for so long they’ve collectively changed locations about 5 times. Another freezing night and the university had a Girl Scout troop coming in so time was of the essence. Also, I hit a traffic cone at the light show. #11 🗽Christmastime in the city. We picked a RAINY day for our visit. We did Christmas trees and markets, some favorite shops, Brookfield Place where the boys controlled the luminaries, the shop windows, and had so much fun. Even though when we got to the hotel we soaked though at least 3 layers. Positive side is there we’re almost no crowds! # 12 🔔 Christmas Eve mass. We’ve skipped this the last few years but ventured back this one. It was peaceful and warm, the kids were well behaved, and it was just nice. Always grounding. (Summer didn’t come but Collins did this year). Honorable mention – some cookie making for Santa and gingerbread houses with grandpa.
