Lego Holiday Village

Back in October we were at Lowe's looking for fall flowers for the yard. Kip spotted the Christmas decoration aisle and quickly fell in the love with the idea of getting a holiday village display. Space and expense were my main concern about starting down that collectible path but a few days later we had the idea of getting a few of the holiday Lego sets and work together to build a holiday village. The thought was that it would be a fun activity to do as a family and we could easily take them apart at the end of the season for easy storage and save/assemble them for the next year. Kip was thrilled.

We got started on the Main Street shops with trolly set ahead of Thanksgiving.

And then we worked on the tree, skating rink, and holiday house when Jagee and Poppa were visiting. 

Our sideboard works perfectly for the display. A little faux snow and twinkle lights elevate the winter scene. 

I like that they can be turned around and and the kids can play with the interior details.

We added Kip's Santa sleigh and reindeer that he got last year. 

And Mandy and Kip created a couple of original designs. 

Mall visit Santa

And a holiday market coffee hut complete with a hipster barista. 

And now we have a new tradition! We will take them apart and store each element in a labeled bag so it can be reassembled next year. Super fun to make and play with all season long! 

And the Lego fans in the family are happy!

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday hosting Poppa and Auntie Jagee at our house. It was simple and mellow and lovely. The kids loved having the extra attention and we all enjoyed the company.

Jagee arrived Tuesday night so on Wednesday the girls all went grocery shopping while Kip finished his last half day of school before break. We went to Panera after school for a late lunch/treat and introduced Jagee to 5 Below. Poppa arrived later that afternoon!

For entertainment, Poppa brought a puzzle that we all picked away at and quickly finished in less than a day. Super satisfying.

And I had bought the Thanksgiving/fall themed reusable coloring tablecloth that we all worked on over several days and was a great collaborative activity for all ages.

Jagee worked on a crochet project and taught Kip a bit.

I managed to snag a super cute photo of the kids which will always conjure memories of the outfit ordeal which preceded it.

The kids of course helped prepare the pumpkin pies.

We watched the parade on TV and got up-close photos from Cousin Kourtney who was watching live from the parade route!

For Thanksgiving dinner we decided to go non-traditional and prepared flank steak on the grill with a myriad of sides (including some holiday favorites like canned cranberry jelly and corn). It was a delicious group effort. Peek at our fall floral Lego centerpiece! Thanks for that awesome gift, Terri Mom! 

On Friday, we decorated the house for Christmas and worked on a special new addition to our Christmas decor (I'll share more on that later). 

On Saturday we went out for lunch at a really great Tex-Mex restaurant and then Mandy got us all tickets to see an "Underwater" Bubble show which was a mix of acrobats/contortionists, mimes, and bubble works. The kids got restless during parts but it was overall an entertaining afternoon.

On Sunday while Mandy and Poppa worked on the exterior Christmas lights, the kids made blue frosted cupcakes and we did gingerbread house decorating!

We made a lot of sweet memories and heading right into the Christmas festivities certainly helped ease the sadness of saying goodbye. 

 

We love you Auntie Jagee and Poppa!! Thanks for coming!