The best parts of the holiday season for our family have nothing to do with the scramble to buy and wrap gifts, or watching the kids tear one open only to set it down and reach for the next.
The best things in December are the experiences.
Some of my favorite December experiences:
Christmas in La Quinta, when my sister and her family traveled down from BC, and stayed with her in-laws who have a place about five minutes from my parents’ house. We ate fish tacos at my Mom and Dad’s and slept over so the kids could all wake up together and open presents. After the kids were asleep we played Cards Against Humanity and laughed until we cried, and two of us, I won’t name names, peed our pants.
A relaxed Christmas dinner and hours swimming in the pool after dinner. It was all fun and mostly stress-free.
We all agreed though, that future celebrations would be a less commercial version of Christmas. We’ll let Santa bring each of the kids a store-bought gift, and we will exchange things we make while we’re up over the summer.
Seeing the Wild Lights at The Living Desert.
Running into friends at the tree lighting at La Quinta Resort, and watching their fantastic projected Christmas display set to music, then having nachos and margaritas on the Plaza while listening to live music.
A quick trip to Las Vegas with my parents. They were going to see Burton Cummings and Shania Twain, but Offspring and I tagged along so we could see the sights and enjoy swimming in a large heated pool for a couple of days. They said the the Burton Cummings concert was the best thing they’d seen in years and I wish we had gone with them, but we took in Big Hero Six at the movie theatre in our hotel instead.
A storybook themed 5th birthday party for one of Offspring’s friends in a park in Palm Desert.
A road trip in my parents’ bus down to Oceanside so we could use tickets a friend gave us to Legoland.
Having brunch at The Parker and then seeing a live production of Cinderella at the Palm Canyon Theatre in Palm Springs.
Hanging out with my sister.
Cappuccinos and archery competitions in Old Town La Quinta on Christmas morning with family.
This post gave me the warm fuzzes, Liz. Beautiful memories. Thanks for sharing them, and Happy New Year!
What a lovely time! Happy new year Lizzie!
Happy New Year Lizzie! I so, so agree that what made your holiday so very special was the EXPERIENCE of the time. So glad to hear that it was one that not only inspired this blog post, but will be a holiday you will always remember. ~Kathy