Did you enjoy reading about our traditions for holidays? Were you inspired or scared? =) In continuation here are some more of our fun Family Holiday traditions!
- Labor Day- Labor Day is just like Memorial Day, the beach, a cookout with friends, lots of yummy food, lots of fun!
- Halloween- We celebrate Halloween pretty much the whole month of October. We go on hay rides, pick pumpkins, make decorations, go to area activities and festivals, and eat “spooky” food like mummy dogs. =) Here in Cleveland you never know what the weather is going to be like- it could be warm and in the 60’s or snowing. Life’s fun here like that! One thing that we do try to do every year is go to Boo at the Zoo at the Cleveland Metropark Zoo, it’s a lot of fun and the kids love seeing the animals at night.
- Dia de Los Muertos- Since I am half hispanic this is a HUGE holiday with me! This year since my mom had very recently passed I kept things light and fun, next year I will probably do more of the traditional remembrance activities. We paint our faces like calaveras, make paper masks, eat sugar skulls, and talk about what our loved ones favorite things were. We buy marigolds to set outside and generally have a great time listening to music and partying.
- Thanksgiving- Yeah, not going to lie- we just eat for this one, lol! We usually go to either my friend’s house or my cousin’s for dinner, I always make Raspberry Chifon Pie and Klint makes Cranberry Conserve. We do ask the kids about what they are thankful for, but the food is more the tradition here.
- Christmas (general)- This is why Thanksgiving is so light, I am already planning our Christmas activities!! The month of December is taking up with Christmas traditions and activities- We have our Elves, Vicky and Snowflake, causing mayhem and helping around the house, we decorate with our tree and lights, we have an advent calendar with fun treats and winter activities inside. We take the kids on a fun night trip where everyone wears their pj’s, we drive around to see the lights, and drink hot cocoa. We go to GLOW at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and Country Lights at Lake Farm Metroparks. We also go to the zoo and see Santa’s reindeer, remind them to come see us for a treat. We always make sugar cookies, applesauce and cinnamon ornaments, and donate cat and dog toys to the local shelter.
- Christmas Eve- We spread reindeer food on the ground and leave out cookies with milk for Santa. The family all opens up a package with Christmas jammies, and we watch a Christmas movie like Elf or Polar Express.
- Christmas Day- After opening up presents we have a big breakfast with red and green pancakes, strawberry smoothies, and such. We play with our gifts, go see a movie, and eat a lunch of spaghetti and meatballs. (My grandfather always made this growing up)
So those are the major holidays that we celebrate. There are little ones in there like National Ice Cream Day, Dress up Your Pet Day, and National Bubble Bath Day, lol that we enjoy as well. Along with the holidays we have traditions to for birthdays and seasons!!
- Birthdays- First of all, the girls only get big birthday parties on certain milestone years- 1, 5, 10, 16, 18, and 21. Those years we go all out, invite everyone we know, and have big blow outs. On off years we do lots of little things are home. I fill their room with balloons, put streamers over the door so that they have to break out, and hang balloons over the doorway. We let the girls open birthday present right away in the morning and there is always a birthday outfit inside one. Then we do a traditional birthday breakfast of birthday cake pancakes and smoothies. The birthday girl also gets to choose lunch and dinner menus, dinner is usually at a favorite restaurant. We also do a birthday photo shoot and this year I am going to add to the tradition- The birthday girls gets a photo taken with balloons, as many balloons as the new age!! I’m so excited for this one!!!
- Seasonal- Every season we go local fruit picking- strawberries, raspberries, apples, sour cherries, blueberries. It is something that the kids and I look forward to every year. (Klint HATES fruit picking, he thinks it is silly and chalks up my excitement to my questionable Mexican heritage, lol!) We also go to local festivals every year- The Medieval Faire, The Feast of Assumption in Little Italy, Lakewood Arts Fest, etc.
Wow! I didn’t realize how much we do until I actually wrote it all out. =) I bet you all have just as many traditions, I would love to hear about them! Anyhow, I hope you all have a very happy New Year full of fun and traditions! See you all next year!!
Klint and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and while I feel like we are in that sweet spot where we know enough about each other, there are still some things that never fail to surprise me about him. One of those things is the differences in how our families celebrated holidays and special events, those traditions that help define our childhood. Klint’s family, while not half as broken as mine, didn’t really make a fuss about traditions. Holidays were celebrated but it was a more subtle celebration. My family, the very definition of crazy and broken, had a slew of traditions that accompanied every holiday and special event. Little things, big things, food, songs, and such. The first time I discovered how different we were in this respect I was really shocked, lol.
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