December - Part 1

December...you were good to us. So good in fact I think I will be tired well into the better part of January. You were jam packed with fun, family and everything in between. Here's a look at the first part of this awesome month!

Complete with plenty of visits to the Yum! Center to watch those Dirty birds play (BLUE all the way)...but if I get to have a stadium beverage and some social time I'll throw on a red scarf - ha!



But  I will be sure to give my kids all of the blue cotton candy.
We played all day every day.



We were visited by our Elf, CoCo


And St. Nicholas!

We took fun photos in front of our tree ... because duh, Christams.

We visited French Lick and had more fun than we've probably ever had at a family Christmas.





We played some more.

Got our first snow (if you can call it that).

Ate too much dessert.

We celebrated fun Christmas things with our friends.

 We took lots of naps.

 Looked at lots of Christmas lights.

 Made fun homemade gifts for our loved ones.

 Visited Santa at the Galt House.

 Took advantage of as many outside days as we could.

 Went to more fun get togethers.

 Made Christmas treats for our family, friends and neighbors.

 Took more naps..

 And celebrated with family!

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!!