Oh my goodness I can’t believe how quickly Christmas came and went! The time — it’s flying…

Over the last six years of being together, Trevor and I have had to figure out how to “do the holidays” since we have our immediate families both near and far. My family lives in Eastern Washington about seven hour away, and his lives close by North of Seattle. This year, we made the trek over to my family over Thanksgiving Weekend and stayed in the Seattle area with his for this Christmas weekend. We packed our bags and decided to make it into a staycation — four days at Trevor’s parents’ beautiful home. The parents + the kids (us and Trevor’s little sister and her boyfriend) + our three dogs equaled a whole lot of fun.

Staycation How-To

I wanted to share with you all some of the activities we did as a family in the case you’re in need of some ideas for your next staycation. It was so nice to be able to relax but have little plans pulsed in here and there. The perfect mix.

Here are five elements I suggest:

#1 : Comfy Clothes. The over-packer in me felt the need to bring clothes that I could lounge in and also clothes I could dress up a bit in. Seeing as this was a staycation, the lounge clothes got more use. I rocked my favorite pair of pajamas and this new ALO sweatshirt and leggings combo as much as I could.

#ProTip: over-pack the cozies 🙂

#2 : Puzzles. Yes, puzzles. We had one sitting out in the kitchen / dining area every day so that we always had something to do. Sometimes there were four of us at it, sometimes just one. It was nice to have your mind working regularly. Also, we did our fair share of family games — which always results in belly laughter.

#ProTip: get either two 550 piece puzzles or one over 1000

#3 : Themed Dinners. Since there were three couples and three nights, we decided to each take one night to cook for everyone and turned it into a contest. On night one, Trevor and I took the family through Italy… with a twist on regular spaghetti, a cesar salad, garlic bread and cheese and wine pairings. Night two, Mikelle and Marcus took us down to Mexico for pork enchiladas, steak fajitas and jalapeno margs that were tough to beat! And finally, on night three, June and Don stole the show with a five course French meal — escargot, Chateaubriand steak and full wine pairings including this 20 year aged wine. Swoon. The presentation each couple did was so fun.

#ProTip: buy groceries ahead of time instead of on the way to your staycation. Make sure you have the proper tools too. I forgot our spiralizer… naturally.

#4 : Movie Time. Trevor has always been super into movies — it’s one of his favorite things. And now I know where he gets it from because his whole family excels at making one great movie night. Queue the lights, make the popcorn, stage the seating. I love it. We spent day two going to the actual movie theaters to see Jumanji in 3D (so good btw) and then watching Christmas movies at home during the night. So much fun.

#ProTip: make sure you have lots of blankets to snuggle in during movie time at home

#5 : Fresh Air. Though some staycations are meant to be spent indoors doing nothing, I like to throw in a little movement and the outdoors to keep sane. We took our three pups for a walk to the local park where we felt the very first snowflakes of the weekend. The movement and brisk air was rejuvenating. And the fact that Seattle got a white Christmas is still shocking to me… first time in ten years! So get outside.

#ProTip: pack a pair of athletic shoes so you can get in a quick jog or long walk

Combining the above pieces into one staycation at a place with the people you love is bound to equal one great success.

It was a very merry holiday for us, and I hope it was for you too.

// cb ✌????