The Villages

We decided to celebrate our last extended Christmas break with another trip to Florida and this year we even found super cheap tickets!! While the flight wasn't quite as exciting as the girls thought it would be, it sure beat driving for 2 days each way!  (I guess we'll have to experience the southern gas station bathrooms some other time haha.)  We asked the girls if they'd like to visit Disney World again and they all said "eh."  They said they didn't love the long lines and I also think having the stomach flu during our visit to the park didn't leave the best memories.  Scrapping Disney saved some money though and we got to do some other awesome things!

We stayed with Grandma Kat and Jack and took some time enjoying all that The Villages has to offer.  Swimming is always a favorite and this year we found a zero entry pool, which was great for our little non-swimmer.  Indie thought she was an expert swimmer and kept heading toward the deep water, even when she was technically drowning.  We kept a super close eye on her and she was smiling every time I yanked her face out of the water.  That pool also had a restaurant with fries so after grandma bought those once, Indie refused to eat anything else.  She's a smart little cookie! 

We also spotted a baby alligator along a nature trail, spent some time collecting moss out of the trees, frolicked in grandma's garden, ate oranges right off the tree, went dancing in the square, cruised around in the golf cart, completed a big puzzle, walked for miles to put Indie to sleep, and the highlight of the entire trip was enjoying happy hour at Steak and Shake.  It was two weeks of beautiful weather and great moments. 

Christmas!

December has been a busy month with finals for Dave and photo sessions for me.  Once we got everything wrapped up, I loved switching our focus to Christmas and enjoying the magic of the season.  

One of my favorite parts was watching my girls buy gifts for each other.  They each used five dollars of their own money to pick a gift they thought their sister would love.  Keeping it a secret was tough so we may do it closer to Christmas next year ha ha.  

I almost didn't set up a tree this year since we'll be out of town for Christmas.  The girls said they were okay with that, but I could tell that they really really wanted a tree, so that's what we did.  They loved hanging ornaments for a while, but then they ditched the remaining ornaments, and played a make-believe game with their favorites.  Milan's Sugar Plum Fairy from her visit to The Nutcracker with Grandma Luell has always been a favorite and was the star of the game.   We have continued to decorate the tree with gifts and homemade additions (the best kind of ornaments!)

 We had beautiful weather during the first part of December so we continued to spend a lot of time outside.  When it started to cool off last week, we started to savor afternoon jammies and Christmas stories.  

Last Monday, we heard about $15 flights to Florida so we jumped on it, even though it meant rearranging our plans a bit.  Since we wouldn't be able to bring Christmas with us in the car, we wrote Santa a letter asking him to visit our house early again this year.  (We saw Santa beforehand at Creighton during Cookies with Santa too.)

Thursday, we did our annual gingerbread houses with friends.  Each girl got to invite one friend so we had Sophia, Ava, and Eleanor join us for a day of sugar fueled fun.  Eden initially made a graham cracker outhouse, but Elf Clause came and fancied up her creation in the middle of the night!  

 Friday, we continued our sugar high with some homemade sugar cookies!  They turned out great, but we weren't able to deliver to friends since Indie came down the stomach flu the same day.  She seems to be the only one that got it, but we didn't want to hand out germy cookies.  (Now we have a couple dozen delicious cookies laying around the house, so that's a problem!)

 Saturday morning, the girls woke up early to discover that Santa had visited our house early!  Eden and Cora both got Hatchimals from Santa, Milan got the perfect photo album for her Instax pictures and Indie got a cute Santa hat.  

(Milan also got a lego set, alarm clock, and cash.  Eden got a slime kit, earrings, crafts, and cash.  Cora got a jewelry kit, googly eyes, crafts, and an American Girl Doll from grandma and grandpa.  Indie got an adorable book, measuring cups and spoons to bang around.  She also got a huge jewelry kit and a bunch of slime stuff, that she decided to share with her sisters haha.)

We have had a perfect Christmas weekend together as a family with some gifts, a family walk, a nice dinner made by Dave and lots of time together.  Tomorrow, we are taking this show with suitcases, stroller, and car seats to Florida......it's going to be a crazy adventure and I can't wait!  

Indie and this book deserve their own feature in our family blog.  Grandma gave Milan a recorded storytelling of The Night Before Christmas years ago and this year Indie is LOVING it!  She sits with it everyday turning the pages and listening to the story.  At the end of the story, grandma says "Good night Milan, I love you" then Indie says "love you."  

 Cora was so proud that she dressed daddy in the same hat as her and wanted a picture!