It's Feeling A Lot Like Christmas

For me the feeling of Christmas comes from the traditions that my family has taken part in over the years.  Once we start singing carols or driving around looking at lights I know it will be no time before St. Nick makes a visit at our place....oh and once I feel stressed to the MAX.

First we bake cookies...



Grinch Cookies were a hit this year.  A friend sent me the recipe...you can find it here.

We follow cookies up with Grinch Popcorn...that recipe is here.


 

And lastly we make Grinch Cake...that recipe is here.  This was a little more difficult to make but turned out great.

 

At our house we have a "Grinch" instead of an Elf on the Shelf.   I'll share some of his shenanigans with you tomorrow.

After all the baking we check out the lights.  In Richmond there is not shortage of Tacky Lights.  We've visited them in the past on a limo tour but without the kids.  This year we visited just a few to give Emma a thrill.

9604/9606 Asbury Court Richmond

9213 Holbrook Dr.  Richmond

 

Those two homes are just a couple of the places you can see in Richmond.  There are at least a dozen more that you can check out.

 

The baking and lights are fun but doesn't a train ride with Santa sound better?  Starting in Dilwyn VA, you can catch a train and travel down the tracks picking up Santa along the way.  He visits all the kids then gets dropped back off before pulling back into the station.  This was a new thing for us this year and the girls (and adults) enjoyed it.  Buckingham Branch Railroad is the name of the outfit if you are interested. 

 

 

What Christmas would be complete without a few crafts?

 

I wanted some rustic trees for the yard

And I got them :-)

Do. Not. Ask.

A reindeer in the making

Matching shirts for the girls

A board, some paint, a few nails and a hammer

Ta-da!



I have a new piece to add to my collection

Are you getting tired yet?  I am!  Time to relax with a best friend.

Millie's in Richmond for brunch

A nice relaxing fire at Saude Creek Winery

 

All this and we still had to find time for caroling at the nursing home, a Christmas Tree Lighting, Girls Scout meetings, a parade, dance classes, gift buying, working and parenting.  I. AM.  BEAT!

1. I am thankful for a husband that can go with the flow 2.  I am really grateful for my crockpot 3. Good thing I have a couple long weekends coming up! 

 

I know I'm not alone in stressing over Christmas...and don't get me wrong...I love it.  It wouldn't be Christmas without it.  Right? 

 

 

Wine Weekend

Mark has had this idea for about a year that we should do a "wine crawl" that involved some of our more local wineries.  And by local I mean still a few counties away in New Kent.  But the few he had in mind are pretty close to each other and could easily be visited in an afternoon.  He wanted us to work our way east so that we would be able to make a short drive to Williamsburg.  Then we could stay the night and visit the one winery there and make our way home.  The only thing we were waiting on was a good time to do it.  Last weekend was the perfect time.

We started at New Kent Winery.  We've been here several times, it never disappoints.  I'll actually be back to visit them on Valentine's Day.  They host a 10K...Race for the Chocolate :-)  How could I say no?  This winery is just off of I64 in New Kent County.

 

Our second stop was just a 10 minute drive east to Saude Creek Vineyards. This is another one we have visited several times.  They usually have music out on the porch in the summers and a fire going in either the fireplace or fire pit.  This particular day they had music inside and more people than I've ever seen at the tasting bar.

 

Our third stop was to a winery we had only visited once before.  It's newer to the area but becoming a fast favorite,  Gauthier Vineyard.  It was just a short drive, maybe 10 minutes, away from Saude Creek. 

We had the best time at Gauthier.  Our wine host was exceptional and we literally stayed until they were closing up.  

Knowing this was an over night trip I had already made reservations in Williamsburg for us at the Comfort Inn Historic Area Williamsburg.  The pictures on the website looked pretty good and the price was right at $39, but I have notoriously picked places that don't end up being the deal you think you are getting. This time I was surprised!  The entire place was clean, the bed was awesome, the location was easy to get to with several options for food right around it.  I think the low price has more to do with it being off season for the area.  

After getting a good night sleep we made our last stop on the wine crawl.  Another winery that we recently visited, Williamsburg Winery. This particular day we woke up to a chilly rain.  So I didn't take pictures of the winery itself in fear of looking like a drowned rat.  When we left the rain had let up and fog was coming in...so I grabbed a few pictures of the vineyards.

 

 

A few friends joined us for the trip so it made it all that more special.  I always say that yes I love my wine but more than anything I love the memories we make visiting the wineries with friends and family.