Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Family Fun Night

Christmas seemed to come really quickly this year! Maybe some of that has to do with us celebrating two days early, but whatever the reason, it left us without much time to do all of the fun family traditions that we enjoy this time of year. So on Tuesday, the day before “our Christmas” we decided to have a Family Fun Night and pack it full of fun Christmas traditions.

We started our evening by taking the kids to see the Christmas lights at Dovewood Ct. We found this little gem of a neighborhood about two years ago and it’s only about a ten minute drive from our house. It’s quite the attraction, with every home in the cul-de-sac decorating with a different theme. This year they even had a huge Christmas present (about 12 feet high and 20 feet square) that was lit up in time to some Transiberian Orchestra songs. The kids really enjoyed walking through the neighborhood and pausing to take in the decorations at each house.

After the tour of Christmas lights it was back home to bake some cookies for Santa (and some for us too)! While the cookies were baking, Dan got out the air mattresses so that we could all spend the night under the Christmas tree. This is a tradition that my friend Dee does with her family and it sounded so magical last year that I decided we would give it a try and incorporate it into our family traditions. It was a keeper! We watched some Christmas movies and snuggled in our sleeping bags underneath the lights of the Christmas tree. Ava liked the idea of it, but woke up half way through the night and wanted to sleep in her own bed. But Drew really enjoyed it and even asked if we could sleep there again the next night!

Even though Family Fun Night made for a late night (the kids didn’t go to bed until 9:30!) it was also a special night spent making memories together. I predict many more Family Fun Nights in our future!

Baking cookies

Frosting with Daddy

Checking out some lights


Excited to sleep under the tree

Sleeping angels

2 comments:

Laura said...

sleeping babies makes my heart just a little squishy. :)

The Portas said...

You guys are so good about doing the fun family traditions. And the sleeping under the Christmas tree is a great idea! A few years down the road we may steal this one from you. I'm glad you all had so much fun!