Happy Valentines Day 2019

Happy Valentines Day! As someone who uses any holiday to go big or go home, you know we went big for V-Day!

We started off Valentines Day week with a special treat of white chocolate covered strawberries and red sprinkles on Friday evening. That next day, Lincoln and I were hard at work baking sugar cookies and frosting them with pink frosting and lots and lots of sprinkles!

We also were hard at work at making Valentines for Lincoln's classmates and his class party.

Finally, I picked up some treats for my boys to show them how much we love them including heart shaped fizzy bombs for the bath, some heart shaped marshmallows for Lincoln's hot cocoa (his favorite treat) and some other chocolate goodies! And for Finn, he got a new book, Love Monster, and some toddler approved Plum snack bars.

I hope everyone's Valentines Day was extra sweet this year.

Santa! I know him....

I couldn't let a day go by without posting this year's visit with Santa! Don't let this photo fool you, little Finn lost it about 30 seconds after this photo was taken...but I'll take what I can get :)

Only 12 days till Christmas!

Gingerbread Buildoff 2018

Holiday traditions are my favorite and the Gingerbread Buildoff supporting Christ Kitchen is one of the most fun! Each year a select number of bakeries and chef's create gingerbread masterpieces. The viewing takes place the second Sunday in December down at the Davenport Grand Hotel.

In addition to viewing, families can purchase mini gingerbread house kits to build on their own. It really is the most fun activity for the kiddos. This year we brought our friends Zeke and Morgan and followed up the Gingerbread viewing with hot cocoa and french fries in the hotel restaurant. A tradition, I hope to repeat for years to come. Below are a few fun photos!

Christmas Tree Hunting 2018!

This past weekend we kicked off December the best way! We headed up to Greenbluff to count down our Christmas Tree! Kevin and I started this tradition the year we got married and we love taking the boys up too. Lincoln has been waiting to decorate since Thanksgiving was over so he was so excited!

Each year since Lincoln has been born, we've headed up to Hansen's. This is such a kid friendly place and makes the experience so fun for the little ones. They have a bonfire set up and give out goodies to make s'mores prior to heading out to get your tree. In addition, they serve free hot cocoa for little ones and let them pick a free ornament off a tree for them to take home. Lincoln looks forward to this every year!

I recently found out that you can actually get a permit to go into the forest and cut down your own Christmas tree for only $5, Griswold style. This is most definitely something I want to try and do next year!

For the time being, below are a few pictures from our weekend...next up is the Gingerbread Buildoff!

Downtown Tree Lighting

You better believe that right after Thanksgiving ended, I put my Christmas party pants on and dove straight into all things full of festive and cheer. We started our first official holiday weekend with a trip downtown to see Spokane light up the big tree in Riverfront Park.

They had a band, photo ops and Santa was there with the local fire fighters. In addition the skating rink was open for people to ice skate all evening. We had our picture taken with Santa and both little boys were fascinated. A few photos below!

Halloween 2018

Halloween has come and gone and it was a good one! While both Finn and Lincoln have been fighting some sort of stomach bug, they were well enough for us to have a few friends over and go trick-or-treating.

Lincoln had an absolute blast! Finn was just happy to be along for the ride...until he wasn't, which is when I hustled him and I home to get dinner started for everyone else.

We all met at our house, the kiddos got some goody bags Lincoln and I threw together and then we headed down our street toward Manito Blvd. Each year, the houses on Manito Blvd put together a flash mob to Michael Jackson's Thriller and we wanted to be sure the boys got to watch! It was entertaining for all and then we headed back to the house for movies, candy sorting, dinner and drinks!

Halloween pictures are the most difficult to take because of lighting, and I'm never home in time to capture them in their costumes during daylight. Because of that, the photos aren't that great, but I think they capture the spirit of the evening perfectly.

Until next year!

Holiday Lights

Each year we try and take Lincoln to view all the holiday lights around Spokane. In the past, we've headed over to Manito's Gaiser Conservatory to view the lights in the greenhouse as well as journey'd to the North Pole to see holiday lights and Santa.  A few photos from past trips can be seen here and here.

This year, we decided to check out the WinterGlow Spectacular down in Cowley Park outside the hospital. They decorate the park so the kids in the Children's hospital can see the lights from their windows which is just so heartwarming. The lights are sponsored by KXLY and they did not disappoint!

We bundled up, packed some hot cocoa to go and spent about 30 minutes walking through the park checking out all of the lights. Lincoln even got an evening trip to the playground in, wet slide and all. If was a fun little outing to see the lights! If you haven't been yet, I highly recommend it.

Sledding Fun!

It FINALLY snowed this past weekend and we took full advantage! We have been waiting on the white stuff all December long, so when it finally arrived in full force last Friday, we knew sledding would be on the agenda.

Saturday morning, after our Christmas Tree Slumber Party, we had the normal gymnastics routine and a few errands to run, but made sure to squeeze in a quick trip to the park to take Lincoln sledding on Saturday. I had to miss Saturday's outing because my back was not feeling awesome, but made sure to tag along for Round 2 on Sunday! That's right, Lincoln is hooked and we made sure to take advantage of the white stuff on both Saturday and Sunday.

This was the first year he was brave enough to go "all by myself" too and while it stings just a little bit to see how big he's getting,  I was so proud of him! His little squeals as he raced down the hill were kind of the best thing ever.

In addition to the sledding, we also made snow angels and had a little snowball fight with daddy. Kind of the best day ever if I do say so myself!

A few photos from our sledding adventures below!