Happy New Year 2019 | A Look Back At December 2018

Christmas has been and gone and it's now 2019. We hope you all had a magical Christmas and a Happy New Year. Our Christmas was busy as always, it was nice to be off work so I could spend time with my family and make lots of new memories. Today is our official back to work and school day so it's nice to look back at our December.

Our December started off with a visit to see Santa at Dobbies. I don't know whether it was because it was the first Santa we had seen but little J was absolutely convinced he was the real one. Usually he says 'it's one of Santa's helpers' but he was sure that Dobbies Santa was the true Father Christmas. The fact he thought that made the whole experience lots of fun and magical. we Visited Santa in his Grotto then we had afternoon tea. We played lots of games and sang songs with the elves. It was a lovely experience and something I would love to do with little J each year.

We had a family night out at Chester Zoo to see the Lanterns. This was something we haven't done before so had no idea what to expect but it was lovely. All the animals were away in their beds but there where animal lanterns dotted around the zoo to see and they were beautiful. We saw Santa on his sleigh and it even snowed.

When the boys go out with their Grandparents, John and I usually use that time to have a 'date day/night' however this year we decided to use the time to put up our Christmas Decorations. It takes so long because we have so many decorations, teddies and snow globes so it was nice to do it all as a surprise for when the boys got back.

We had our annual visit on the Santa Special Train in Llangollen. This tradition started about 13 years ago when big J was just a toddler. He would go every year with his Grandma and Grandad. When we had little J he joined in with the tradition, then as the family grew and more grandkids came along we all go now, all 14 of us.

Little J's nativity was one of my favourite moments of December. He was a narrator and although he is extremely shy he managed to say his lines and joined in with most of the songs. There were 180 children involved so it wasn't as personal or emotional as ones we have seen in the past but still lovely to see him performing.

Santa's Sleepover at Alton Towers is one of our personal traditions. We have been going for well over 10 years now and it's something we all look forward to each year. This year we stayed in the newly refurbished Splash Landings Hotel, visited Santa in a Teepee, enjoyed the rides at the Theme Park (even though it was pouring with rain), had Christmas Dinner at The CBeebies Hotel and enjoyed the evening entertainment. Usually we head to the Waterpark the next morning, but this year we had to dash home as our nephews were getting baptised.

Father Christmas and his reindeer visited little J's school before they broke up for the Christmas Holidays. It was a lovely treat for the children to get up close to the reindeer.

John and I managed to squeeze in a date night and went to see Mary Poppins Returns at the Odeon. We don't go to the cinema very often so when we do we like to book The Gallery and enjoy watching the movie in the comfy seats. Mary Poppins Returns was a movie I have been really looking forward to and I'm not sure why but I found the whole film very emotional and cried all the way through. I don't think I was the only one with tears as we could hear lots of sniffles throughout the cinema.

We headed back to Dobbies just before Christmas with the rest of the family for Breakfast with Santa. It was lovely seeing all the cousins together dancing and joining in with the activities and obviously seeing Santa too.

Christmas Eve was a lovely fun packed day. I had prepared lots of fun activities for little J to do. I numbered lots of envelopes and in each envelope was a piece of paper saying what we were doing next and also if he had to open up a present. I had wrapped up a few gifts for him to open throughout the day too. It was lots of fun and we never got bored once. It definitely made the day go quicker and he was in bed by 7:30pm fast asleep.

Christmas Day was a blur as usual. I love watching the boys open their presents but after that the day just flew by. We visited John's Mum and Dad then went to my Mum and Dad's for Christmas dinner. It was a lovely day but I much prefer Boxing Day when we get time to sit and play with everything.

We went round to my Mum and Dad's on Boxing Day morning in our PJ's and my dad made us breakfast. We sat and enjoyed our food then soon realised that Christmas Day was over. The build up is huge but the actual day is over in a flash. We had John's family over Boxing Day afternoon/evening to watch the Everton game which was nice.

The days in-between Christmas and New Year were just stay at home and play days. Was so nice to just stay in our PJ's and play with little J's new toys. He loves everything he got for Christmas and he is gutted he has to go back to school today.

Michelle