So It's Christmas Time After All.

It was so hard for me to get into the Christmas spirit when the weather was 75-80 every day. I know this is because I grew up in New England and have only lived on the east coast for all of my life. Scarlett was crying one day last week because she missed her old friend, New York and there wasn't going to be any snow this year...This broke my heart in all sorts of tiny pieces.

The locals told us that it hadn't snowed here since 2011. "You want get any of that white stuff here." they said. On the morning that Scarlett was crying, she told me that she was going to tell her Elf, Ginger, that she wanted some snow. She informed me that Ginger would be sure to give her some snow. I cringed a little inside, knowing the heartache she would be sure to find when Ginger did not keep her promise. "Scarlett," I said to her, "Ginger will try but it's very hard to make snow in Texas when it's warm. She would have to combat the forces of nature to get it here. So if we don't get snow, don't be disappointed." Scarlett shrugged it off as if she could care less about my warnings. Typical adult. Non believer. 

That night we decided to get the grocery shopping done together as a family. So we piled in the car and headed to Whole Foods. After a lovely hour and a half of joyous grocery shopping with two tired kids, we walked out the door and low and behold......

"It's SNOWING Mama!!! It's really SNOWING!!!!!!" Scarlett shrieked with delight. Indeed it was. People gathered all around that parking lot, workers taking selfies with their co-workers, kids jumping up and down and Texan natives in awe at those big beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky. So Ginger brought us snow after all. And I decided to let go of my inner non-magic-believing soul for a while.
Of course that ride home was magical. I was a tiny bit nervous driving with all of the non-snow experienced drivers around us. But nothing a little Christmas music and the sound of the kids singing along in the back seat couldn't fix. There are all sorts of moments in life that I imagine should be perfect in my head. More times than not, it never ends up as magical as my mind envisions it to be. But this was not one of those times. This Texas car ride home in the snow was the epitome of a good ending story. Scarlett beamed from ear to ear and Mele Kalikimaka by She and Him knew just the right timing to come on the radio. And you know me, I sucked it right up and enjoyed every last minute of that good stuff. ;)

So Christmas is here after all and I am finally feeling that Christmas spirit. This year, will be different. We are traveling to see family for Christmas. It won't be back to New England or New York- it will be someplace sunny with Palm Trees.  I know I'm going to miss that snow piled up when I get up on Christmas morning and I will most likely miss watching the kids run to the tree to see what Santa has brought them. In fact, this year, they won't be opening many presents on Christmas Day at all. Just a couple small things that we will bring with us, and maybe a few family presents. I don't know how I feel about this. A little sad thinking that they might be disappointed, and on the other hand, happy to show them that being together with family is really what matters during the holidays. Cliche but true in many ways.

Ginger, our Elf, is putting together a couple of Travel Packages for the kids. This will include some fun activities and other things to keep them occupied during our travel. I will share these on Instagram this week (@itslaurenrebecca).  I figured this was good way to get them some gifts and also have them be valuable tools for travel. I travel prepared.

I'm leaving some photos on this space of our month so far. We have done so may fun things this December!  We did Zoo Lights at the San Antonio Zoo where we rode camels and got faces painted! Ty and I celebrated his birthday at The Rustic, which is by far the coolest date night spot I've been to so far. We had awesome food and listened to talented live music by a Texas song writer. We did some shopping, went to the Aquarium and did some sushi eating. We picked out a tree, decorated it and of course, visited our favorite bearded guy!

Here's wishing you all a Happy December and check back this week for a post about traveling with littles :)