Grand America Window Stroll + Gingerbread House + Ogden Christmas Village

We had a jam packed Saturday yesterday fitting in all the Christmas activities.  First we did the window stroll at the Grand America Hotel and saw the giant gingerbread house they make every year (a favorite activity of ours).  Claire was fascinated with everything fancy in the hotel this year.  She loved all of it.  We'd like to stay a night there one year, maybe as part of their Christmas gift or something when they are a bit older.

After finishing at the Grand America we went to the South Town Mall to see the Harry Potter Village and eat lunch at the food court.  We ate quintessential mall food: soft pretzels with cheese sauce + sodas.  We let our kids play at the kid play place for a while and took a family picture in the photobooth.

After finishing at the mall we drove back to Ogden to see the Ogden Christmas Village + Christmas lights (one of my favorite parts of Christmas in Ogden).  We've gone every year since we had Claire and it such a nostalgic activity for me. Due to Bryce and I working opposite schedules we always try to fill our weekends with lots of family time and it is my favorite.  I look forward to our weekend plans all week long and this weekend did not disappoint!

The Nutcracker Ballet

I took Claire and Peter to see the Nutcracker ballet for the first time this past weekend while Bryce was on call. (Please excuse the crappy phone photos).  Tickets were only $12 so I thought it was still worth going even if we left halfway through.  Both Claire and Peter did really well sitting through almost the whole ballet.  It was well past their bedtime and Peter was falling asleep so we left about 10 minutes before it ended, which I consider a success.  I definitely would like to them again next year (or at least just Claire if Peter isn't interested in going), it was a lot of fun!  

Gingerbread Houses

 

Annual Christmas Gingerbread Houses!

We usually make these from graham crackers but I was in the midst of finishing my final paper for the semester and thought a gingerbread house kit from Target was the best route for this year.  It worked out perfectly.  My favorite podcast Best of Both Worlds would be very proud of me for "outsourcing' the bulk of the gingerbread house activity to Target this year. 

Christmas Cookies

Christmas cookie making with the kids.  Sugar cookies are not really my favorite cookies to eat, and honestly my kids don't really like to eat them either haha!  But they are very fun to make and decorate!  We decided to freeze a few of the decorated cookies to save for Santa.  So glad I thought of that idea so we didn't have to worry about making cookies again later in December!

The Polar Express

We surprised our kids with a ride on the Polar Express on Saturday.  I bought our tickets back in September and had been looking forward to it ever since then.  We didn't tell the kids where we were going we just told them they needed to wear their Christmas pajamas and that we were taking them on an adventure.  It's about an hour drive from Ogden to Heber City where the Polar Express train was.  We had the kids watch the Polar Express movie in our van on the drive there.  When we pulled into the parking lot and they saw the train across the street they both squealed and cheered with excitement.  

We boarded the train and found our seats.  We were served hot chocolate and cookies just like in the book.  We sang Christmas carols and were entertained by Santa's elves.  Then on the train ride back Santa came on the train and gave each child a bell.  He sat by our kids and they each got to tell him what they'd like for Christmas.  Claire asked for a tea set and Peter asked for a big fire truck.  Bryce and I had heard mixed reviews from other people we knew who'd gone on the Polar Express so we weren't sure what to expect.  We LOVED it and highly recommend going at least once, especially if you love the book or have a kid who loves trains.  After our train ride was done we went to eat at the Dairy Keen (a train themed local mom & pop burger joint).  It was a memorable weekend with our kids, one I won't forget!

Christmas Tree 2019

A few pictures from decorating our cute little Christmas tree this year.  We bought this darling little fake tree from Target last year and I love it so so much.  It was so nice to just pull the tote out of the garage, set up the tree, and decorate!  Much easier than getting a real tree as we have in the past.  We may go back to using a real tree sometimes in the future, but for now I love our sweet, simple, minimal, little fake tree!  Pulling out all of the ornaments and having the kids help decorate is so fun every year. 

Christmas Jammies 2019

We changed how we do our tradition of new Christmas jammies this year.  Growing up, my mom always got me and my siblings a new pair of Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve and I carried on that tradition with my kids.  It seems to be a common tradition a lot of people do!  We've always opened new Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.  We go to my parents house for our Christmas party with my side of the family on Christmas Eve, which means we get home kind of late.  By the time we get home the kids are exhausted and usually slightly grumpy, and they aren't even excited about opening pajamas.  They just want to go to bed.  We decided this year to open new Christmas pajamas the weekend after Thanksgiving as kind of a kick off for the Christmas season.  It worked out so well!  My kids were excited about opening their jammies, I got a few pictures of them smiling in them, and they got to wear them all month long before Christmas.  For now we are going to stick with doing the tradition this way.  I'm not sure if we'll change it back to Christmas Eve when they get older or not.  I really liked doing it right after Thanksgiving and it was nice to spread one of their gifts out from all the others on Christmas.  We'll see, but it was huge win for us this year!