As soon as Winter hits, snow ball fights, sitting by the fireplace, and a nice cup of hot chocolate come to mind. I personally love sweat pants, over sized T-shirts, and tube socks, that’s my kind of Winter; when I’m not at home, lounging in my most comfortable clothes is a win for me! I do like to partake in the cute wintery vibes and all the beauty that comes with it too, though. Some of my favorite things to do is taking trips up to the mountains, preparing for the holidays, and doing things locally like going to the movie theater and catching the latest films, visiting Santa’s Shop, and getting together with family and friends over a glass of wine or a good cup of coffee.

Annually, our family will take a trip to Tahoe and get a cabin for a week; this is a lot of fun and the kids look forward to this every year. This week is fun filled with activities and a lot of eating out. Tahoe is a beautiful place to visit all year round, when it’s covered in snow, it adds that warm, family feel.

Of course, we make several snow trips! The kids love making snow men, snow Angels, and having snow ball fights. Although, this last Winter, there wasn’t to much snow, there was just enough for us to still enjoy. We usually take a drive up 108 and stop off in Strawberry or Pinecrest. This year we had to drive up a bit further than normal to get more snow, but it worked out. We visited Pinecrest and its little surrounding shops. My older kids had a nice warm cup of hot chocolate, while I enjoyed a nice cup of coffee and my little ones had chocolate milk. While visiting the shops, my two youngest got a hoodie and my girls and I got friendship, wooven anklets. These snowy, day trips, are always so much fun; we usually stop off and get lunch or dinner, on this particular trip, we brought lunch and made it there.

The holidays are always so beautiful and delightful…..when you subtract the chaotic Christmas shopping. I love decorating for Christmas, it’s putting it all away that’s a bit of a downer! Decorating for the holidays is almost like letting one of Santa’s Elves rent out a room, hahaha, you have to make it look and feel all nice and welcoming for him or her. I recently changed up my Christmas decor colors last year, I went from burgundy and gold to silvers and whites…..much softer! My Christmas storage space is much limited these days; it’s so hard to not keep adding to my Christmas decorations. I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Around Christmas time, there’s so many cute and fun things to do with the family. We love making ginger bread houses, writing letters to Santa, visiting Santa, making hot cocoa, taking a trip to Sonora- so many cute things to do here, baking, visiting Christmas Tree Lane, and so much more!

While we write our Christmas lists out for Santa, we listen to Christmas carols and usually enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa and freshly baked cookies! This year we had several frozen pies left over from our visit to Apple Hill, so we all enjoyed pie with our hot cocoa. The kids love adding whip cream and sprinkles to their hot chocolate, get creative and buy decorative sprinkles! This time of the year is definitely not according to a strict diet!

In our home, we invite Peppermint over every year to watch over the kids. She’s our little Elf friend that pays us a yearly visit; she’s very mischievous, and at times, can be a bit more naughtier than my kids are, but we love he her! Having an Elf is like having a part time job, you must show up and deliver or you’ll have some very disappointed children.

We also adore Disneyland around this time of the year; it’s always decorated so beautiful. We buy season passes every year, so we definitely make sure to visit Mickey and Minnie around the the holidays. Just keep in mind that Christmas Day is definitely not the day to go; go in December, but try and avoid the week of Christmas. Our family once went the week of Christmas and found that Christmas Day was, literally, the worse day of the year to go. It was so packed that they weren’t allowing people in the park due to the over capacity regulations.

I could go on and on about the limitless things to do with your winter days. The kid’s usually have holiday related events to attend during the holidays, those are always fun! My son, Landen, always entertains us with his school Christmas parade, and my eldest had her first high school winter formal this year. It was so much fun watching her get all into picking out a dress and shoes, although it did start to drag on towards the end, due to her teenage picky ways.

The Polar Express Train ride downtown Sacramento is a lot of joy. Check them out on, https://www.californiarailroad.museum/static/polar-express.html?p=events/polar-express . They have dinner, singing, and activities with Santa and his reindeer. Another thing that I definitely don’t want to forget to mention is light watching. As a child, our family would drive around neighborhoods and look at all the pretty decorated homes. Now, I am able to do that with my kids, and I love it! We usually stop off at Starbucks and grab a hot chocolate, then head to the well known decorated houses and from there we just drive around. When we find homes that have light shows, we will park and watch those for a bit before we move to the next home. In a nearby town, Ceres Ca., there’s a street called Christmas Tree Lane, there you’ll find a whole block lit up by neighbors who all participate in Christmas lights. On opening day for Christmas Tree Lane, they’ll have hot chocolate and a horse with a carriage, that for a small amount, you and your family can ride in around the block and look at lights from.

Worse case scenario, if you just want to stay in with your most comfortable lounging outfit and warm socks, do it with a nice cup of coffee or hot chocolate. When the time is right, do your lounging with a delicious glass of wine with your friends and/or family while sharing some stories and laughs!!!!

As always, I hope you enjoyed-Warmest Cheers!!