I think this was the first year that we actually did accomplish everything on our Christmas Vacation Bucket List....and then some! Here's what we were working with:
First up was morning movie in which we watched 'A Christmas Story.' Classic!
And more crepes!
We didn't have much else planned that day, so the girls checked out some of their Christmas gifts and we started on some organization projects.
I don't think this one officially made it onto the list, but we hit up Starbucks for breakfast on Tuesday morning, fueling up before our cookie house decorating contest.
Thank you to all those who voted. Brynn (aka house #3) was victorious again this year.
Also not on the list, but something I like to do each year is a walking holiday lights tour through the nearby neighborhood. Armed with her reading light and hot chocolate, Clara accompanied me.
Brynn roped Dana into a midnight puzzle sesh with a puzzle that was sitting atop the donation pile.
Eating at a new restaurant (from the list) was intended for Brynn and me and to be somewhere that neither of us had been to before, but instead we wound up at Frank's Lounge, which both Dana and I had been to before, but not the girls.
Brooklyn brought over her new VR game set. It is so entertaining to watch. Haha.
Adria was able to spend the night. The girls had so much fun playing outside and skating at Broadway Square downtown.
Brynn has been creating all kinds of neat things with her new Apple Pen. Anyone remember Astronaut Clara from her space birthday?
Clara was such a trooper as we powered through cleaning, organizing and overhauling the toy area, craft room, game closet and her bedroom...though you may not recognize her here with the mask on.
We made it through the Plains Art Museum which was a good time. Clara chatted with a lady working on some clay trees in one of the studios.
Making Dad pretty.
More creativity at work. Brynn made these different made-up maps - which inspired Clara to do one of her own. This one is Brynn's.
Skate Date with these two roller skater/bladers at Skate City.
To check off Detroit Mountain from the list, we met up with my fam for some tubing on Friday night. The trees have been so frosty and beautiful lately.
Tessa, Ben, Clara, me and my hood. :-D
It got dark not long after we got there, so it was difficult to see, but this is Grandpa, Clara and me.
Mandatory stop at Zorbaz post-tubing.
Saturday afternoon we made our way out to the lake to celebrate Christmas with my side. Trees still frosty! Clara and I were having some fun outside.
Taco, cat, goat, cheese, pizza! Tessa always finds the most fun games and this one was a doozy! So fun.
It's not a Dietz family gathering until we start arm wrestling one another. We finally got Dana to participate and he turned out quite victorious! In all the games we played actually...I don't think I got any pictures of it, but we played Bunco too.
Happy New Year!
A beautiful, frosty start to 2023.
Ben brought his hockey sticks and puck along with, so the boys, Grandpa and Clara had some fun playing hockey Sunday morning.
More games.
Queen of the mountain back home.
The last thing on the bucket list was sledding and we went hard on this one! Usually we stick pretty close to home with our sleds, but I had been wanting to check out one of the sledding hills around town, so we decided to try Dike West, near Island Park downtown yesterday, the last day of the girls' break.
Documenting us still in one piece as we head out.
This hill was no joke. Right away Clara got going too fast down the hill, wiped out and rolled roughly five times before coming to a stop at the bottom. Brynn rushed down to rescue her.
We walked upon a sled graveyard coming in and this saucer had minimal damage, so we picked it up to use while we were there.
My turn. I was so scared!
It was entertaining just watching other people sledding down too. I'm so glad we all made it back home intact! Clara was a bit sore today, though, she said.
I had one extra day of PTO that I took beyond everyone else, otherwise Dana and the girls headed back to work and school today. It was a great break and Christmas holiday. Here we come 2023!
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