There are a lot of magical places to visit over the holidays, and I always treasure new memories made. We have family that live far away so we normally split our holidays over the years by travelling different places to visit them. Recently, however, we had one of our most magical Christmas’ ever when we decided to just stay home and enjoy a staycation.
When you are able to take your time decorating your tree as a family it becomes a day full of memories. We have special ornaments that represent different events in our lives and we revisit those times as we hang each one.
Being home for the holidays means enjoying a much slower pace – with much of the time you’d normally spend packing being spent on sipping extra hot coco on the couch with your kids. Santa’s workshop is a lot more fun too, because when you travel for the holidays presents can be no bigger than what can fit in a suitcase!
When your mind is free to wander, great inventions occur. We came up with a concoction of adding a scoop of ice cream to the top of hot coco. Delish!
On Christmas morning the kids came and crawled into our bed. Having that much happiness and excitement all bundled up in one place was spectacular! The rest of the morning unfolded with hot cinnamon buns for the kids, mimosas for us, and the opening of gifts that went on all day. With nowhere to rush off to, if someone opened a toy they wanted to play with, we would stop everything and play! We stayed in our pajamas all day and ignored the hands of time. Pure Bliss!
Even the dog enjoyed lounging around.
Staying Local for the holidays for this staycation also provided us with an opportunity to spend more on outings nearby during our days off, because we hadn’t purchased four round-trip flights. Being around to attend holiday parties hosted by friends, and just spreading some good holiday cheer as you run into people you know around town was another wonderful bonus.
Our hometown holiday was really special, but mostly because it was unique and we don’t spend every holiday like that. I plan to mix it up and re-visit this plan every few years. Our Roamancing crew would love to hear about the pleasures of being home for the holidays that you have experienced. Share your story and enjoy the thoughts of others on your social feeds using #HometownHolidays.
Davw says
Awww that dog is so adorable!
Erica Hargreave says
That he is! So much so that we made him my stand-in in this year’s holiday card, Dave!
Coco says
Love the concept of holiday at home! That is so great.
I liked your coco and ice cream combination and I will give it a go. It looks delicious.
Brie says
Thanks! I actually just had the coco and ice cream again the other day…it brought me just the happiness I needed! Life gets so busy sometimes, it’s always such a great feeling to shut it all out and just be with family.
Martin says
Awww that dog is so adorable!
Laura says
Yes, being home at holidays is the best. Even on New Year’s Eve, I just want to spend time with my family, not going out for the countdown party or something.