12.22

The Christmas Season is upon us! While things “look a little different this year” – my most hated phrase this year. We made the best out of things, and to be honest- I didn’t mind the social distancing! Here’s what we’ve done!

1. Jolly Holiday Lights. This is a tradition and has been since the girls were small. We always get our family photo with Santa here every year and I bring out the collection of photos each Christmas. It’s fun to see the kids grow each year. $20 a car and a trip to Altoona- worth it every year!

2. Gingerbread Lane and Frosty Road in Ankeny. This was our first time going to this. There are neighborhoods that all decorate their houses and yards then they put out signs for us to read a story as we travel down their road. It was free and awesome!

3. Santa’s Rocking Lights in Des Moines. Hands down our favorite this year. It was reasonably priced, bought tickets ahead of time, the entire show is set to music. It was absolutely stunning! We hope this comes back next year!

4. Blue Creek Christmas lights- this is a tradition as well. However, it is a lot farther away now! We made it a trip and also saw Vinton’s lights as well. It is a neighborhood also set to music, we love the National Lampoons section the most!

5. Vinton lights. These are old school- I remember going to see these when I was little. I do think the trees draped in lights look even more magical now than they did back then! Vinton also had the best downtown lights!

6. Our town had Santa come through downtown on the back of a fire truck. We went to town early  and grabbed donuts and hot chocolate from the bakery. They also it the down town Christmas tree! Afterwards we drove around and looked at lights. It was nice!

7. Random:  We decorated our gingerbread house, Brooke had a virtual Christmas party with her youth group, the school set dress up days for the last week of school and we got a donut decorating kit from the gas station. We also got in a trip to see Santa. While we had to have our temp taken, had to wear mask and talk through plexi glass- we were all relieved to know he was made aware of our move! He can’t wait to see the farm.

We’ve had a lot of fun this season, it has kept our minds busy from missing our loved ones. It is time to buckle down- Santa will be coming soon! We are working tonight on beginning our long list of making Christmas goodies. The wrapping is done but a few gifts still need to be purchased. There is a cold snap just in time for Christmas so we are also busy preparing for that.