Christmas 2020

Well, 2020 is about to finish so I though I'd best squeeze in one last post to share this year's Christmas with you.

While this holiday season was very different for a lot of people, it was business as usual for us. Living half way across the world from family and friends means that we always spend Christmas alone. Well, not alone, but just the five of us. Catching up with family for Christmas always means Skype or Facetime calls at awkward times. Giving gifts has always included a long wait in the post office. What has been our Christmas "normal" for a decade now became the "new normal" for most of the world this year! Just so you know, we were doing it before it was cool! Ha!

Ok, but seriously, our Christmas really wasn't any different this year. Well, apart from the masks for our Santa visit on Christmas Eve! Santa did give us the option to take masks off too (he was wearing a face shield and was sitting far away) but I felt we had to capture 2020 in all it's glory too. Plus, Ava's Krampus mask needed to be immortalized in Christmas history!

Downtown Denver Holiday Lights

Christmas is almost here! 

Things may be looking a little different this year for many families, but one thing that remains the same is the holiday cheer in the city. There may be no holiday parade or ice skating rink this year, but the city of Denver has gone all out with the light displays just as they would any other year. 

Earlier this week Lola, Mathilde and I headed into the city to check out the light displays in Downtown. We saw parade floats, streets filled with twinkling lights, listened to a band play festive music, marveled at the light displays on Union Station, and laid down inside the Mile High Tree to watch the lights above. 

Here's a look...

My Favorite Holiday Books for Kids

Can you believe that Christmas is less than a week away? Where has December gone?

While this holiday season may feel very different for a lot of people, there are plenty of ways we can make the holidays as festive as always. We've getting festive by checking out holiday light displays, decorating our house (inside and out), baking our favorite Christmas cookies, watching holiday movies, and reading lots of holiday books.

Reading holiday stories together is a great way to connect with family and if you've got young readers it's educational too. Shh... don't tell the kids! Grab your favorite books, some Christmas cookies and a hot chocolate, and get cozy on the couch together. You can even involve family who are far away by reading together over video chat. There are so many great holiday books out there for kids of all ages, so today I'm sharing some of our favorites with you.

Berthoud Snowfest 2020

Today we headed to a small town about 40 minutes north of us called Berthoud to check out some cool sculptures. When I say that the sculptures were cool, I mean it! They were all made out of snow!

Berthoud Snow Fest was held on Saturday and featured snow creations made by both professional snow artists and high school teams. While we missed the main event, the sculptures were still on display so we made sure to go and check them out before they melted in the sun. Some were a little melted but most still look fantastic, especially those that were a little thicker. 

Here's a look at the sculptures... 

The Baby Yoda and Reindeer sculptures were the kids favorites while I quite liked the big dragon.

After we checked out the sculptures we took a little walk around town. We checked out other (non-snow) sculptures in nearby Fickel Park and the Wildfire Arts Center. 

Most things were closed when we visited Berthoud but it was quite a cute little town and not too far from us so I'm sure we'll be back. I want to check out the antique store pictured below!

To be honest, I'm not sure how long the snow sculptures will be on display, but given that the temperatures are pretty chilly right now I'm sure they'll be around for at least another day or two. 

If you want to go check them out you can find them on North 7th Street alongside Fickel Park in Berthoud.

For more information visit: https://berthoudmainstreet.org/berthoudsnowfest/

Holiday Fun at Gaylord Rockies

Disclaimer: We were hosted by Gaylord Rockies in exchange for this post. All opinions and photos are my own.

Recently we took our first ever staycation. Can you believe we'd never actually taken one before?

With travel further afield out of the picture right now, but a break very much in order, we decided to take a little trip - just down the road! We spent the weekend at Gaylord Rockies in Aurora and it was just what we all needed. A break from being at home all day, a chance for fun activities, and a whole load of holiday fun!

In my last post I shared the I Love Christmas Movies immersive exhibition that we checked out during our stay at Gaylord Rockies. This was such a fun holiday experience but it wasn't the only holiday fun we had. There was so much more to see and do at Gaylord Rockies so read on to find out about it all!

I Love Christmas Movies at Gaylord Rockies

Can you believe it's already December? Where did the year go?

December is always a pretty crazy month around here with a ton of different holiday activities happening in a relatively short amount of time. I'm sure that's true for most families. This year things are looking a little different with lockdowns, shelter at home orders and everything that the pesky virus has brought with it. We're lucky that while numbers have increased dramatically here in Colorado, we're not in a lockdown like other places. Rather, we have "safer at home" measures in place which means we can go out but should limit it as much as possible. 

This means that we have been getting out to celebrate the holidays a little but we've majorly cut down on the number of activities and events from previous years and we're sticking to all of the social distancing and mask requirements. Likewise, the events and exhibits that we have gone to have been great about keeping visitors safe. 

One such exhibit that we recently attended was the I Love Christmas Movies immersive exhibition at Gaylord Rockies in Denver. If you've been here a while you'll know I'm a big fan of immersive experiences so this was right up my alley!

I Love Christmas Movies is all about - you guessed it - Christmas movies! The exhibit features replica movie sets from five classic Christmas movies, and visitors are walked through in small groups led by masked "Production Assistants" who provide a little background, and fun commentary, for each scene. Lighting, audio, music and special effects help bring each scene to life.

So, just which Christmas movies can you expect to find yourself in? The exhibit starts with scenes from Elf, followed by The Year without a Santa Claus, A Christmas Story, and The Polar Express before ending with my favorite, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

Let's take a look...