2017 CoCo - Elf on A Shelf

Ahhh the Christmas Elf. A tradition we started two years ago and I both love and hate :)

2015 - The year the Elf joined our family and I failed to document any of it
2016 - The Elf's second year in Nashville

2017 - Here's a look at this Christmas in Kentucky!

CoCo arrived and brought us new PJ's

 Then checked out the new fixtures

 Reminisced on Christmases passed.

 Reminded us to brush our teefers.

 Went fishing.

 Sang loud for all to hear.

 Further explored the new decor.

 Had another snowball fight.

 Ate too many cookies.

 Got himself into another sticky situation.

 He seemed to really like the cotton.

 Went zip lining.

 Informed us he liked coffee as much as Mommy and Daddy.

 Read some books

 Got all tangled up.

 Hung out with our snowmen.

 Counted down to Christmas

 Explored the fixtures some more.

 And made sure to take in one last look at our family photo before he headed back to the North Pole!

We'll miss you CoCo! See you again next year.

December - Part 2

If you missed all the fun we had in the first part of December you can check back on that here in December - Part 1. For Christmas Part 2 we're gonna recap all of our celebrations! 

First up was the sleepover at Sissy's house!

Then we headed to Cincinnati and had a day before Christmas Eve celebration and read the Night before Christmas with the family:

We woke up to SANTA!!!

 Then we got cleaned up and headed to Brunch at Sissy's

Followed by Christmas dinner at PaPaw and GoGo's

And then wrapped all of the Christmas shenanigans with Grandpa on the 26th!

What a truly wonderful time of the year! Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

It's Beginning to Look ...

A lot like Christmas! And it feels like it too! Brrrr! We've officiall decorated the house .. and just maybe it's enough inspiration to actually share a home tour (mayyybe).

And last weekend we spent the weekend in French Lick with my dad's side of the family celebrating Christmas. It was the most magical, fun (insert all the great words) here weekend!
The kids and I arrived a few hours early and shared some Diet Coke and carrot cake with Papaw.

The we put on our matching PJs and headed to board the Polar Express! While waiting to board our train car we wrote letters to Santa (and I was super surprised at the kiddos requests!).









We picked out our spots on the train and settled in to make our way to the North Pole.



Lainey is still boycotting photos :)

Well, sometimes.

The whole ride is about 1.5 hours and you head through the Indiana forests. There are dancing and singing elves that entertain you, and serve you cookies and hot chocolate.



Once you make your way to "The North Pole" Santa boards the train and the kids go CRAZY! They're so enamoured with the whole to do!

After we arriving back to home base we wrapped the night with way too much pizza and bowling!
 
After the kids got a (ahem) full night's sleep, we had a big ole breakfast and then headed to watch the choir carol in the atrium of West Baden.






Then the younger little's took a quick nap, the older ones got ice cream and we made our way to ride the ponies!!





Lainey was EXSTATIC and rode Trixie.



Bennett patiently waited for his turn and was atop Sam.



After we had our fill of the ponies we headed to view the grounds and once again visit with Santa. Trolley rides were everyone's favorite.



And we wrapped with a grand finale dinner at Hagen's on a spectacular golf course view. And let the little's open a few gifts in the atrium before calling it a night.





It was the very best start to the Christmas season and we can't wait for more celebrations this holiday! A special thank you to my parents for planning such a great getaway and giant hug to all of my family members that's shared in all of the fun memories with us!!