We have a few Christmas traditions in our home. One of them is decorating gingerbread houses. I usually buy the pre-made houses and some extra candies to go on them. Sometimes the kids have decorated their houses at their grandparents' house in Louisiana. This year they decorated them with friends. I think this is their favorite way to hold the tradition.
I bought houses that were not only pre-made but also pre-assembled. Easiest thing ever! Just take off the cellophane wrapper and start decorating. Several other kids had pre-made pieces but they were supposed to assemble them with icing. Well, if you've ever done that then you know it is time consuming and tries your patience. And then it all collapses in a mound of disappointment. But my friends are so creative. They took the kids' pieces and stuck them together with hot glue. Not as edible as the traditional way but much more efficient! You go, girls!
And these days, you don't have to just buy a gingerbread house. No. Now they have gingerbread barns, movie-themed gingerbread houses, gingerbread, Christmas trees, and even gingerbread trains!
They also had graham crackers and other cookies and candies in case friends wanted to just make their own crazy creations.
Nicholas assessed his house and the candy options and then decided on the best way to proceed. He often takes his time with decorating gingerbread houses. Last year, he enjoyed some crazy decorating for his house to make it look like a monster!
But this year he said he wasn't going to make a monster or anything crazy. He just wanted to decorate it like a house.
While the boys were outside decorating their houses, the girls were inside decorating theirs.
Gingerbread house decorating is serious business for these girls!
After decorating, everyone enjoyed pizza and fellowship with friends.
Finally, the kids had fun with an ornament exchange. Everyone brings a wrapped Christmas ornament and they play a white elephant game to see which one each child gets to keep.
Nicholas ended up with a silly dog with a bow.
Rachel was even less excited than Nicholas because her ornament was Superman. And no, Nicholas did not want to trade with her. He is a Batman fan all the way so he didn't want anything to do with Superman. Silly kids!
What are some Christmas traditions in your family?
Last year while we were visiting family in Baton Rouge, we decided to take a few days and head to a "real" beach on the Gulf Coast. We had such a good time that we have decided to make it an annual tradition.
This year we tried to get other family members to come along with us. My dad was hoping to come but it didn't work out. But Stuart's brother and his daughter came. It was fun for the cousins to get to spend time together. We got rooms at the Hampton Inn and Suites right on the beach. This is where we stayed last year. The rooms are nice plus they have a great breakfast included with the room price. And, did I mention that it is right on the beach?! We bring umbrellas, ice chest, snorkeling gear, sand castle gear, etc so it is nice to be right there on the beach and not have to lug that stuff around more than necessary.
We arrived late in the day but we hadn't even gotten our stuff unpacked when the kids were begging to go down to the beach. Look how beautiful the view from our room was.
The next morning we got up early to play on the beach. The waters were no longer still. Instead they were actually quite rough.
We played in the surf some but we spent most of our time just hanging out in the sand.
Nicholas played around with dripping wet sand on to itself.
Eventually it started to look like a sand stalagmite!
Stuart buried Nicholas in the sand. Look at that big smile on Nicholas' face! He loved it!
I love that I can always find THE BEST flip flops at the beach. I bought a pair of Cobian flip flops when we were here last summer and they were my favorite shoe all year long until they eventually broke. So, of course, I had to come back to get a replacement pair.
Even the waves hitting the shore were strong. If you weren't paying attention, they could knock you over.
One great thing about the strong waves is that they brought in a lot of shells. Most of them were not very big but we collected quite a few neat ones to bring home.
Plus Rachel had fun "riding" the waves on her boogie board.
We played and played until we were just wiped out.
We headed back to the rooms for showers and to go searching for food. I was ready to just sit on the balcony and read a book while listening to the waves and watching the seagulls but the kids were longing to go down to the beach again.
So we headed back down and spent the rest of the afternoon in the sand and surf.
Nicholas enjoys playing in the sand. He buried Rachel in the sand and shaped the sand to make her look like a mermaid.
Pretty impressive!
Then he wanted to bury Mommy. I wasn't excited about being buried in sand but then I reminded myself to savor the days. He had so much fun and it was neat seeing him at work.
He used the tip of the shovel to make a neat pattern that could be used for scales or feathers.
In my case they became feathers as I transformed into an eagle!
There had been some rain earlier but it was short-lived and moved through quickly. But the waves were still quite strong. I kept getting knocked over when I went out in it. But they were beautiful to watch and the sound of them crashing was so relaxing to listen to.
This is our second summer to come to Orange Beach and we just love it. We love the location of this hotel, we love the quality of the beach, and we love that it isn't too far of a drive. However, the only problem we have with this beach is.....
….there are a lot of jellyfish in the water! And they aren't far out where it is deep and most people don't go. No, they are right at the shore where everyone is playing.
And look how long their tentacles are! I think we might have to hunt down another beach to visit next summer, even if it means driving a little further.
Sometimes we saw dead jellyfish that has washed up on the beach.
We have each gotten little stings over the two trips we have made here. Your skins burns some but fortunately we haven't had it bad enough to keep us out of the water. This summer we found a new fun thing to do here. Helicopter rides over the beach with Orange Beach Helicopter Tours! Even though they gave rides all day and each ride was rather short, we still had to make reservations. There was a constant stream of people coming in for rides.
The helicopter is only big enough for three riders. Stuart and I took a helicopter tour in Hawaii so it wasn't as big of a deal for us but both kids were super excited to ride in a helicopter for the first time.
I got a video of the take-off but somehow the video stops just as they leave the ground.
I love the video of them coming back in for the landing. They come in so quickly yet gracefully.
We only stayed for two nights so it was a short trip but it was a lot of fun. The brothers got to hang out and relax.
And the cousins got to spend time playing at the beach together.
Hopefully we can make another trip like this again next summer!
Three out of four of us love ice skating and playing hockey. So we were happy to take our annual trip to the Galleria in Dallas for ice skating around the giant Christmas tree.
The tree is beautiful and it is in the middle of the rink. Even this picture below doesn't do justice to how tall it is.
Eventually I felt the tug to get out there too. It was fun, especially with my sweet husband holding my hand.
Stuart and the kids all have their own skates that fit them perfectly. I had rental skates which were hurting my feet so I didn't skate for very long. I love watching Stuart skate and play with the kids. Rachel loved holding her Daddy's hand while skating.
Nicholas was too fast to keep us with. He was skating backwards a lot of the time and he was still faster than us!
Nicholas acted like he was giving Stuart a hug but then dropped some ice shavings down his back! That's my silly boy!
Rachel, on the other hand, likes giving real hugs. She is always tender and sweet.
Although the giant Christmas tree will be down soon, there is still ice skating fun to be had. They are located inside the Galleria at 13350 Dallas Parkway. Admission is $11.00 per person with $3.00 skate rental. They also offer skating classes. Call them at 972-392-3361 for more information or check out the Galleria Ice Skating Center website.
