We recently went to Branson for a mini vaycay with the littles. They loved this sweet gift idea from my parents. We stayed in a family waterpark resort and rode on the Polar Express. The kids had a blast and it was nice to get away for a few days.
Here are the kids finding out that Nana and Pop got them a VERY special trip for Christmas this year. My mom made these little stockings up with golden tickets and jingle bells and showed them pictures of the waterpark. So cute! You can see the excitement on the big girls faces in this one!
The Littles at the waterpark. The youngest two weren't fond of it, but the older three went CRAZY there. Mia wouldn't let us even put her into the water without a FIT. Brother was just REALLY cautious. Isaiah is trying to make a silly face in this picture. Ha! And yes, he has another black eye. He's all boy and clumsy to boot. Poor boy!
My three little girls in matching pjs that used to be for Lulu, KK, and Addi! BOO for getting bigger!
I LOVE this sweet sweet picture of my darling Addi sleeping on the way to the Polar Express. That soft sweet cheek needs to be KISSED!
Oh how I love this picture of my beautiful darlings! They were SO excited to ride the train!
Our family on the Polar Express. We almost didn't get to sit together after one of the train people told us to go into a cabin that was already full. Once we got back to the right one there weren't any seats together. Luckily there was a family that was willing to give up their seats and move to another spot so we were able to all sit together.
Drinking hot cocoa and eating YUMMY cookies. This was their favorite part!
Santa on the train.
Addi really liked the conductor. He liked her too as you can see in this picture! Ha!
Another Santa at the Branson Landing. The kids loved the light and water show there, but it was COLD! Did I mention I forgot to pack coats and hats? Mother of the year award, people!
Before we left we drove over to Springfield to the Bass Pro Shop. All the kids love the animals there. This bear has been around for a LONG time. There are pictures of ME in front of it as a small child. The girls LOVED it!
Scotty told them to look scared of it! HAHA!
They had a cool Santa area set up with rides and games and crafts for the kids. Our kids loved the wild animal carousel. Too bad I couldn't get a picture of Lulu because of where she was sitting, but here are the other kids.
Love this silly girl! She said, "Mom. Make it look like the bear is going to eat me!"
I'm looking forward to Christmas this year. We are really rethinking how we'll do Christmas next year. We battle the Santa thing each year trying to decide what to do with it. This year we are doing three gifts for each of the kids: PJs to wear on Christmas Eve, a Santa gift(and stocking), and a sibling exchange gift picked out by the sibling especially for their sibling. I love the sibling exchange. It's funny sometimes, the ideas that they come up with.
What do you do for Christmas? Spending limits? Gift limits? Ideas? I want to hear!
We do 3 gifts from Mom & Dad (for the 3 wise men's gifts).
ReplyDeleteWe don't do Santa, but we do stockings. From the time the stockings are hung, each person contributes small things to the others' stockings, (with me putting in a bunch more Christmas Eve night). My youngest is 4 this year, and she's done some drawings to put in the stockings, but she can't keep a secret, so we all know what she's put in our stockings!
I've noticed that, as the number of children has grown, sibling exchange has gotten exponentially more expensive! When I just had K & A, I'd take them each on a separate special outing to Family Dollar to pick out a $5 gift for the other sister. Total spent by 2 sisters on each other (minus tax) = $10. Now, there are 3 of them, there are 3 trips to Family Dollar. The total spent on 3 sisters on each other (minus tax) = $30. I give the child the cash in hand, so it also helps teach them about money, and they also really enjoy the short "alone time" with Mom or Dad.
~Janelle Middleton~
Michael and I do four gifts. We open one gift on Christmas Eve and then three gifts for each of the wisemen on Christmas Day. We like to focus on the shepards on Christmas Eve, but we throw the wisemen in for Christmas Day.
ReplyDeleteWe also do stockings, but we don't do Santa. When we get children, I feel like we will still get each child only four kids, but we will go out and shop together as a family for the gifts for that child. Who knows, but we want to keep it around four.
Ours always varies from year to year. Starting this year Santa fills the stockings (mainly because I can't keep my mouth shut about the gift). I told Adam that starting this year I want to get them each a Spiritual gift every year. The boys are finally getting their baby keepsake Bibles and Karlee had asked for a Bible cover so I got it and a Bible to go in it. Then they each got about 3 other gifts and then their joint BIG gift. I always question how each year is going to go. Last year they had a boatload of presents. I like the simpler feel this year.
ReplyDeleteOh and like others had posted they each get their sibling a gift. Karlee picked hers for the boys from the Awana store and then I took Cole out to pick something and I picked the ones from Isaiah.
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