Christmas Traditions

We only had one Christmas tradition growing up. It was that we could open one present on Christmas Eve. There could have been more, but honestly I don't remember any. I definitely want to have traditions with my kids. Here is a list of some traditions I would like to start.

1. Go to Appalachicola and see Santa come in on a shrimp boat. One of the best things about where we live is all the small towns nearby.  Appalachicola is a must visit town if you're in the area. They are known for their oysters. They have an adorable downtown right on the water. We took Oliver this year for Santa's arrival. Everyone stands on the dock and watches him come in on a shrimp boat! On Santa's walk over to his seat he even stops and talks to kids and takes pictures. It is adorable.

2. Reading a Christmas book before bed every night. This one might be more difficult because whenever we trying reading to him he just hops off our lap and runs around. But maybe as he gets older.

3. Looking at Christmas lights in Christmas pajamas.

4. Making at least one craft during the season. This year he made his first Christmas ornaments for  all the grandparents. It's a "handprint" in snow paint on a round ornament. Maybe next year it will look like a real handprint. This would be a cute idea to everyyear so you can see how much they have grown.

5. Doing something to give back to the community. A friend of ours has two elves who love to give back intead of having elf on the shelf. A couple times a week the elves come up with some ideas such as taping microwave popcorn to redboxes around town and making cookies for the postman.

6. I would like to go to church on Christmas Eve and open one present then too. But I just don't think that one will work for us anytime soon, unless we move away from family. We usually go to my father in law's on Christmas Eve and my mother in law's on Christmas Day.

7. Go see Santa at Bass Pro. Mainly because its free! And they have very cute set up and a great Santa.

8. Visit my parents in early December and go to a fun Christmas event. This year we went to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens. The whole park was decorated for Christmas even with a nativity scene. It was beautiful. And they had the best Santa set up I have ever seen. We went to the park earlier in the day and rode roller coasters. Oliver even got to ride his first ride all alone like a big boy! Then we strolled around once the sun went down. The next day my Grandma, my aunt, and my cousins came over and we all had lunch before we had to head home. We got some great pictures of Oliver with his cousin Noah in their Chrismas pajamas.

His first ride all by himself!

Oliver in his Santa pjs and Noah in his Elf pjs

We thought the train might help them look
at the camera instead of the tree. Wrong!
 

We'll see how many of these we will check off the list. I think as he gets older we will get to really enjoy these more and maybe add some new traditions.