Christmas in Chicago {2018}

Posted in Family, Travel by Kendra G.

We started our Christmas break with a lovely Christmas service at church on Friday night.

Saturday morning came early and we hopped on a plane to head to Chicago!

Michael and Rachel showed us around the city while the kids headed back to the house to bake cookies and see Arie.

We stopped at Macy’s to get warm and check out the Christmas tree and beautiful decorations.

Afterwards, we hopped on over to the Christkindlmarket which was packed the moment it opened. I got a cute mug full of warm goodness, then we headed out.

Our next stops included Garrett Popcorn, Ballast Point to taste some beers, and Au Cheval for the best burger in the entire city.

Finally, we met up with the kids at Forge Brewery!

The next two days, we had a wonderful visit with family.

We were hopeful for more snow, but she was thrilled to at least see this much.

Christmas morning was full of coffee and opening presents before we packed our bags to hit the road.

Our first stop was in Lafayette for a short, but sweet, visit with the cousins.

After one more stop in Indy, we were on the road. 14 hours later, we arrived in warm Orlando to continue our Christmas break!

We had such a wonderful time in Chicago and we already can’t wait to plan our next visit. To say that Michael and Rachel were amazing hosts would be an understatement. We had such a very, merry Christmas!

12Dec2018

my weekend in photos

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

lauren daigle at the bobb carr theater. an amazing christmas concert to start the holiday season.

the perfect girls night.

christmas party with some friends!

christmas crafts.

chili night!

8 miles from the new starbucks!

new socks. new shoes. great run.

thank goodness she plays indoors as it poured all day.

sweet little brothers

happy birthday ashlyn!

***

we had an action packed weekend with parties on parties on parties. i think i’m still recovering! how was your weekend?

9Jan2018

Christmas Break, cont.

Posted in Family by Kendra G.

My favorite photo floating around social media this year included the phrase “the bit between Christmas and the New Year when you don’t know what day it is or who you are”. I definitely felt that this year. It was a weird week coming back from Christmas in Sarasota on Tuesday, then going back to work the following Tuesday. We had a jam packed week and it honestly flew by!

Crosby spent most of his time out of school in his pajamas and the kids loved their new sleeping bag/pillow combos they got for Christmas. There was a lot of cartoon and movie watching done from them.

On Friday, Heather and I got our 26.2 tattoos and Michelle got her nose pierced! Kenley was pumped that Livie came over to play during that time. Also, don’t let my smiles fool you, that little sucker really hurt even though he was done in less than two minutes.

Greg and I snuck out for happy hour on Friday to celebrate Ryan’s new job!

On Saturday, we got to see our friends in from Montreal! I love seeing these kids together again around our table. They picked up right where they left off from their last visit in July. It was so good to catch up over Moscow mules and instant pot chili.

Greg worked a few days during the break, so we headed out to Light Up UCF on NYE to do some ice-skating while he was working. They also got me on the ferris wheel which I was not a fan of, but the views were pretty good.

Greg and I capped off our Christmas break with a trip to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta which I will share more about this week. Thankfully, my parents stayed until the 2nd and were able to watch the kiddos for the day. We had such a great break and were so thankful to see both of our families and lots of friends.

4Jan2018

Florida Christmas {2017}

Posted in Family by Kendra G.

We headed down to Sarasota this year to celebrate Christmas in Florida with Greg’s family. We had an amazing five days filled with family, fun, and sun.

The kids spent a lot of time in and on the water. It was way too cold for me to even think about getting in. The boys caught several fish from the dock and I paddle boarded with the manatees!

We had dinner out on the circle on Saturday night and spent some time at the beach on Christmas Eve.

We opened presents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The kids spent the rest of our time playing with their presents.

We had such a great visit and a wonderful Christmas with Greg’s family. We loved seeing the Gilbos in Florida and the kids especially loved seeing their older cousins!

22Dec2017

Christmas Tree Trail

Posted in Family by Kendra G.

Last weekend, we headed to Disney Springs to check out the Christmas Tree Trail. It was really cool and I am sure it will be a new Christmas tradition. Once we got to the Tangled tree about halfway through, Kenley declared that she wanted a picture with every single tree. Therefore, I present you the entire trail of trees.

Alice and Wonderland

Mulan

Mary Poppins

The Muppets

The Jungle Book

Lilo & Stitch

Peter Pan

Tangled

Dumbo

Robin Hood

Villians

Fantasia

101 Dalmatians

Pinnochio

Cinderella

Snow White

Frozen

Beauty and the Beast

Sleeping Beauty

The Little Mermaid

The Princess and the Frog

Pluto

Mickey & Minnie

We were expecting it to be busy considering how late in December it was, but we were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t! We had so much fun looking at each of the uniquely decorated trees.

30Dec2016

Christmas {2016}

Posted in Family by Kendra G.

Merry Christmas! We have been having so much fun this week and I have so many pictures to share of all of our adventures with all of our visitors.

Before Christmas, we had our friends in town for a few days to play as they were on their way down to south Florida. I had to work until Friday, but Greg and the kids had a great time. They went to the Science Center, the park, and we made s’mores on the front porch after dinner one night.

As the Mangos were leaving, my parents, Michael and Rachel were arriving for Christmas. I ran 10 miles with the girls on Christmas Eve before we were off to church in the afternoon for our candlelight service. My favorite.

After putting milk, cookies, and carrots out for Santa and his reindeer, we woke up on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought and exchange gifts. We spent the rest of the day playing with our new toys, inside and outside.

We headed to Light Up UCF on Tuesday to ice skate! It was the first time ice skating for the kids and the first time in a very long time ice skating for the rest of us. Crosby didn’t like it, but Kenley loved it! We went back out a second time and it was hard to pull her away.

On Thursday, we got to meet up with our friends who were visiting from Canada! We had a perfect morning. We had breakfast at Townhouse, then went strawberry picking!

The rest of the week included drinks at the Brass Tap, dinner at Tijuana, gelati at Jeremiah’s, swimming, trips to the park, donut making, and shopping. We’ve had such a good week!

We had a wonderful Christmas and a great week with family!

20Dec2016

Christmas at Seaworld // 2016

Posted in Family by Kendra G.

Another item on our advent list this year was to see the Christmas lights and decorations at SeaWorld. We went last year for the first time and absolutely loved it. Instead of the Polar Express this year, the main attraction was Rudolph and friends. I was a little bummed that the Polar Express wasn’t back because it was really so cool last year, but Rudolph was a nice change of pace and something new for us to see.

Unfortunately, it was pushing 90 degrees when we arrived. Nothing says happy holidays like sweating like crazy walking around to look at the decorations. Luckily, when the sun went down it was a little better, but it was still really humid.

Untitled

We only rode a couple of rides since the lines were a little long. The kids could have looked at the train display all day. We watched them go around and around during the day and then again at night when they were all lit up. It’s such a cool display.

We were ready for the Sea of Trees show which had a cute little introduction and skit before the light show started. Crosby joined the other kids to sing a Christmas carol and was asked to participate in the show!

The show did not disappoint and Crosby did such a good job ringing the bell. He was all about it! After the show, we headed over to see the Rudolph in the Christmas village.

The line for Rudolph and Clarice was a bit long, so we met Bumble instead before we walked around to see the lights.

The park was beautifully decorated and the lights were amazing. We had such a great time once again this year.

16Dec2016

Friday I’m in Love

Posted in Friday I'm in Love by Kendra G.

Happy Friday!

o n e

On Tuesday, the 5am running crew got together for a little holiday get-together. It was great to actually see each other in real clothes and make-up. It was also the same day that the Chicago Marathon announced who was accepted through the lottery, so we celebrated! Majority of these ladies are running the marathon in October and I am so excited to be on that crazy journey with them. Related to this, I came across this great article this week: 8 Reasons Why Mommy Needs to Run and I love it.

t w o

Greg and I went to the Magic game against the Clippers on Wednesday. We knew more players on the Clippers than the Magic this year and I’m still bummed that Oladipo is gone, but we had a good time and loved spending some time together! We headed out early to run a few Christmas errands…’tis the season!

t h r e e

These crazy kids had pajama day at school yesterday. It is hands down the best day of the year in their eyes (and I don’t blame them). They also got to watch a movie, eat popcorn, and drink warm cocoa. The week before holiday break is the best! Pajamas are from Old Navy, here and here.

***

Friday I'm in Love Linky Party

What are you loving this week?

We’ll be back next year for more Friday I’m in Love!

*this post contains affiliate links.

9Dec2016

Friday I’m in Love

Posted in Friday I'm in Love by Kendra G.

Happy Friday! I’ve been slacking on my Friday loves, so I have a lot to catch up on. Let’s get to it.

o n e

When we saw Trolls in the theater, we got to see the preview for the new Lego Batman movie. We’ve since watched the trailer several times and are all so excited to see it in February. There are 20 minifigures that go with the movie, which are all so cute. I am pretty sure vacation Batman is my favorite. Speaking of Batman, the kids love to sing the Batman version of Jingle Bells, so I was excited to find this free Batman smells printable from recipe for crazy to go with our Christmas decor.

lego-batman-movie-minifigures

t w o

I picked up a couple pairs of the new Old Navy Pixie Chino pants and I love them! I think I have previously shared my love for the Old Navy Pixie pants, but I like the chinos even more. They are not as tight or stretchy as the regular pixie and they are great for work. I have Gray Stone and Cool Sage Green.

product photo

t h r e e

Michelle and I frequently discuss how we are still so emotionally involved with Grey’s Anatomy. I know a lot of people don’t watch it anymore, but I just can’t seem to quit it. She sent me this article and it made me want to go back at watch every single one of these heart wrenching episodes. Why do I love this show so much?!

21 Heartbreaking “Grey’s Anatomy” Medical Tragedies That You will Never Get Over

f o u r

I have been doing majority of my Christmas shopping online and I am loving Ebates! I know I’ve mentioned this one before too, but if you haven’t signed up for Ebates, you are missing out. You get cash back for shopping online. It’s seriously that simple. I use the handy Google Chrome extension so it reminds me to activate my Ebates when I’m shopping.

f i v e

Of course, I am loving all things Christmas right now! We’ve had so much fun with our advent calendar activities, including building a gingerbread house and making reindeer chow this week. The kids also have the Lego City and Lego Friends advent calendars, so they have loved building Legos each morning. We are looking forward to more Christmas fun the next few weeks!

Friday I'm in Love Linky Party

Don’t forget to check out what Misha is loving this week. What are you loving?!

1Dec2016

advent calendar activities {2016}

Posted in Family by Kendra G.

Welcome to another season of Pinterest Christmas!

My first project for the year was to come up with activities to fill the buckets of our diy advent calendar. I am so excited for all of our fun activities this month. When I sit down to make the list of activities, I always have my calendar out so I know what fun things we already have planned so I can fill those buckets first. Next, I fill in the remaining weekend days since those days are good for more time-intensive activities. I fill in the remaining days with activities that worked well in the past, or with new ideas from Pinterest. This year, my friend Lindsey shared her list with me, so I borrowed some of her ideas to mix in some new ones.

{1} Find Sprinkles the Elf [on the Shelf]
{2} Mail Christmas cards
{3} Go to Disney Springs to see the Christmas decorations
{4} Build a gingerbread house
{5} Make reindeer chow
{6} Have snowflake pancakes for dinner
{7} Get a blizzard at DQ
{8} Wear Christmas pajamas and read Christmas books
{9} Listen to Christmas music
{10} Build a “sand” man at the beach
{11} Donate toys and clothes to others
{12} Kenley shops for Crosby’s gift
{13} Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows
{14} Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas cartoon
{15} Make a Lego Christmas ornament
{16} Family movie night: The Polar Express
{17} Crosby shops for Kenley’s gift
{18} Go to Sea World to see the Christmas lights
{19} String popcorn for the Christmas tree
{20} Drive around and look at Christmas lights
{21} Celebrate Christmas with friends
{22} Roast marshmallows over the fire and makes s’mores
{23} Make Christmas cookies for Santa
{24} Go to the Christmas Eve service at church

Some activities are small compared to others, but I don’t want to over commit ourselves or feel like we are rushing from one thing to the next. The point is to enjoy the Christmas season together as a family and that is what we intend to do! You can see our previous activities here and here.

Keep an eye out for other fun projects coming soon as part of Pinterest Christmas and don’t forget to check out Misha’s projects at Emerald City Diaries.

You can also see past Pinterest Christmas projects here.

Happy December!