Happy New Year! Winter Break Recap

Good morning and happy 2023! I hope you had an amazing holiday season and you are feeling energized and recharged heading into the new year! First and foremost, thank you so much for coming to my blog and following along! I’m so appreciative and am trying my best to stay consistent in this space! Here’s to another year of blogging in the books!

Today, I’m assuming most of you are like us, heading back to school and getting back into routine once again. I have to say – it’s super bittersweet. I found myself crying yesterday. Yes, crying. I always get like this. I really love the slow, easy, free days with us being all together. I love the magic of the holiday season and their ages are just perfect! The pure innocence, joy and awe over the smallest little things during break just made my heart so happy. It also breaks my heart – I just wish it would last forever.

At the same time, I’m craving the routine. I feel wildly overstimulated from the past couple weeks (as I’m sure we all do!) and could use the structure back in our daily life! Ugh, it is such a weird thing, isn’t it! Wanting the kiddos around all the time, but then in the same breath, wanting some separation and peace!

So, since I’ve been MIA, I’m going to play catch up and also relive our break through photos today! Here’s a recap of our winter break!

Wow, it feels so long ago looking back! Last day of school means a special thank you to teachers and staff!

After school, we kicked off break with dinner and a light show!

We enjoyed some cousin time with a indoor Candyland game, the library and swimming at our fav indoor pool (which I didn’t snag a pic from!)

We spent the days leading up to Christmas staying cozy inside. Our house was having the hardest time holding heat! We were flickering in and out of power and decided to make the front room look like a campsite! Of course didn’t document a thing….

….I did document Nellie and her new winter vest!

Christmas Eve there was SO much excitement in the air! We had dinner at my in-laws followed by mass and some gingerbread house making before loading up to get ready for Santa!

Christmas morning was just the best! The kiddos were stoked!

After opening we had Andrew’s family over and enjoyed some breakfast!

After breakfast and playing with toys – we headed to my brother and sister in-law’s to celebrate Christmas with that side of the family! Same thing…. kiddos were beat!

We recovered from Christmas and spent the next couple days inside and playing with the new toys!

We played cards and even some betting games too – which this little lady wasn’t having a ton of luck!

Andrew lost a bet in his Fantasy Football league last year and had to give a comedy skit in front of a bar, ha! At his expense, we had a blast!

He did SO good and people were asking if he was quitting his day job to pursue a career in comedy!

Karaoke was done…can’t say it was any good, ha!

We enjoyed lots of Nellie snuggles over break!

We enjoyed lots of walks and scooter rides as the weather has been unseasonably warm!

We had our annual ladies holiday dinner celebration in an igloo this year!

And finally to end break, we decided to do a little Downtown Cleveland “getaway”. The kids LOVED it and we loved seeing the pure joy over the simpliest things!

First we went to the Science Center…

After enjoying the Science Center we headed back to the hotel to check in and get dinner! The Cavs were playing at home, so all the restaurants were packed, especially because half were closed recognizing the holiday.

This girl’s bag cracked me up…perfectly color coordinated.

Dinner was EXCELLENT!

After dinner it was time to change in our suits and SWIM! It was so much fun!

Shower, jammies and some sweet treats for a movie night!

We had a goodnight’s rest and then it was time to wake up, grab some breakfast and head home!

We decided to punt of our original plans to eat near the West Side Market as it was pretty rainy. We opted for the hotel restaurant, which was EXCELLENT!

Then back on the road to head home and get organized for the week! But first, riding escalators and feeling awesome walking through the lobby with your bags, haha!

And that’s a look at our holiday break! Whew, time to grab a coffee and get ready to finish the week strong!

This post contains affiliate links, including Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I can earn compensation from qualifying purchases….I appreciate you reading along and supporting my blog!