The Bunch Go To Ice!

I love the Gaylord at Christmas!

We historically take off school for the rest of the year around the second week of December. This year was no different. We homeschool so I figure we can just slow down and enjoy the holidays during an already busy time with one less thing to do. I will admit that now that I only have one left in school we could probably go a little longer before our break, but T didn't really think that would be fair.😂 We have been enjoying our normal Christmas traditions. We even have started a couple of new ones.

 Since the pandemic, we have been doing advent calendars and this year was no different. We end up with this really complicated system of who gets what on what day, but we enjoy it. This year the boys rotated a cocoa k-cup calendar and the girls did a coffee one ( it said coffee AND cocoa on ours, but we have yet to get a single cocoa). We also have a gourmet popcorn calendar and an around the world candy. I usually go kind of crazy on advent calendars, but this year we did just get 4. We love the coffee and cocoa ones so we get those every year and then get some different ones to try . We were really excited about the popcorn one this year, but it has been a let down sadly. However, the world candy one has been very interesting. There is such a variety and they have a book that goes with it that explains where each candy is from and how it is manufactured. Each day has 4 candies in it so we all get one to try. We also each get to try some popcorn. There have been several candies that are really good (Greece has a pomegranate jelly candy that is so far our favorite). There is also a couple that had to be spit out (why would you make candy out of tree resin...it tasted like we were eating our Christmas tree)! We are excited each day to see what new thing we get to try. For those of you that know us well, we are foodies. We LOVE to try new and different foods. In the summer, we make a game out of getting all the summer release flavored chips, candy, and ice cream. Being able to locate them is half the fun. In addition to looking forward to our advent calendars each day, we have also been taking turns each night reading the original Christmas Carol manuscript. T found this cute little reproduction one day when we were out shopping. It even has copies of the original drawings in it. We read about 7 pages a night and pretty much laugh hysterically at some point every night. The fact it was written in the 1800's and by an Englishman makes some of the sentences and spellings hard to read. Who would have guessed they would have used phrases back then such as "Oh, poop". That caught us off guard and caused one of the many laughing fits. We have had so much fun reading that T suggested we find another book to read together when we're done with this one. I think it's a good idea and we'll try it.

In addition to our Christmas movies and tv show episodes, we have also been playing Christmasnopoly, which as expected is a Christmas version of monopoly. I will warn you NEVER play Monopoly with T. He is quite good and I think has only ever lost once. We also went to the Gaylord this week to see the Ice! exhibit. Ironically, we went on the EXACT same day we went last year to take pictures. The theme this year was Rudolph, which happened to be the first one that we ever saw so it was very nostalgic. We went through pretty fast though since the kids weren't really into playing on the slides for any length of time anymore. I did manage to talk everyone into one trip down the slides for a picture, but that was it. 

Going well before Christmas in the middle of the afternoon during the week really cuts down on how many people are there. I couldn't imagine going on a busy weekend. That would be miserable!!

It is so cold in there! I am really curious about the costs of keeping it so cold.

Isn't T handsome?😂

What they can do with ice is AMAZING.

The kids visit Santa's toy shop.

A said her jeans kept sticking to the ice on her way down.

We were the only ones who really walked up the stairs to take a picture. Maybe we weren't suppose to? 🤷It looked like they made it a picture spot. I really liked it.

We had such a a fun time.... even if it only lasted 25 minutes.😂

Our favorite part

It is just so magical!

Me and my girl 💓 

The boys. There was actually a cool train display behind them.

Our favorite photo every year. We all take turns sitting with the reindeer.

I feel like this is a Coke display!

Thank goodness Axl's crate arrived! He did great in it! He slept most of the time we were gone. I know because we moved one of the security cameras to in front of the cage to be able to check on him. He is completely healed from surgery and can now be loose with Maisy which makes things much easier. Maisy, however, still needs her anxiety meds. I thought once we got her use to him being here we could take her off them, but that in fact proved not to be the case! She gets her pill 2x a day and she is so much better. A neighbor even stopped to talk to us on our walk the other day and she just quietly stood there while we chatted....no barking, no lunging, no crazy antics. She just stood there like a normal dog! She is now 14 years old and is turning into the dog we always wanted! Axl is slowly gaining weight. My goal is to have him up to a healthy weight by June, at least a 100 lbs. Male Great Pyrenees have a normal range of 120-165# just to give you an idea of how skinny he is. Our first vet visit he only weighed 78# and two weeks later about 82#. I can't wait to pet him and not feel all his bones jutting out. It feels so gross! 

Look how much bigger Axl is than Maisy...in height anyways!😂😂😂

This week our Christmas plans are to meet C & H for dinner and go drive thru a Christmas light display. T will drive us to get his LAST hour of night time driving requirement! His driving test is only a couple of weeks away now! He is so excited!!