A New Way To Holiday

Hi friends! How’s your holiday season going?

I wrote a couple of years ago about how I was struggling with what the holiday season would mean for us as a family. I had a hard time letting food be the focus (especially the traditional overload of sugar), and we are not big consumers of stuff.

I had finally come upon the realization that for us it would be about experiences. Concerts, parades, candlelight walks. We would visit with family and friends. You know, lots of fun and joy and crowds.  

Well...as you know, much of that has been taken away for now. So we have worked very hard to fill in the gaps this year, and I have to say the kiddo is having the time of his life. 

Here are some of the adventures we have had so far:

• Decorating the house 

  • We have gone all out this year. We were able to find a lot of things on sale and have really done it up. It is so nice to walk into a holiday wonderland whenever we get home.

• Arts and crafts

  • One of the best crafts we got to do this year was decorating a big playhouse that Grandma gave us. 

• Cutting down a tree

  • We went out into the wilderness on a sunny, beautiful day and hunted down the perfect Charlie Brown tree. We helped with forest management and had a grand adventure!

• Walking the Clear Creek path in Golden to look at lights

  • They always do such a good job with the lights, and walking along the path is a safe way to spend an evening.

• Hunting down light displays

  • It really seems like there are more lights out there this year, and we have been taking advantage of it. We’ll put on the Christmas music and drive around looking for the best display. 

• Making gingerbread houses

  • It’s a fine motor extravaganza filled with fun!

• Virtual Elf Academy

  • The Golden Hayride puts on an Elf Academy every year, and this year it went virtual. The kiddos got to decorate a cupcake, make some ornaments, learn a dance and play some Christmas carols on a kazoo. Then, Santa certified them as official Elves for the season. It was so much fun!

While we will definitely miss the large gatherings with family and friends we would usually have at this time of year, we have certainly made this holiday season special. 

What are you doing to make your holiday special? Let me know if you have other ideas, we still have a couple weeks to go!!