If you are getting bored with your go to running workouts or just want something new and fun to do over winter break Active list a fun list of 12 workouts to try:

https://www.active.com/running/articles/the-12-workouts-of-christmas

We are doing all the last minute Christmas things like Target runs, Library visits, running on the treadmill, elf shenanigans and watching Christmas movies.

I can’t believe Christmas is so soon I am not ready for it to be over.

We are fully enjoying our break and seeing friends more.

Then we grabbed a pizza for dinner and watched The Nutcracker and the Four Realms on Disney+ and we loved it!

For many years I would dance in Oregon Ballet Theater’s production of the Nutcracker. I loved it so much but it also dominated our Christmas season, so many thanks to my mom for driving me downtown Portland at least every other day so I could perform during this very busy season. I remember wearing pink foam rollers to school so my hair would be perfect for evening performances. I am not sure how we did it all.

Props to all the parents who are doing all the things to help their children chase their dreams!

We are loving Winter break over here so much. I love doing school with my littles so much but it’s also nice to just focus on the fun!

Our elves reminded us that we need to get out and go camping again. Pondering weather camping every month of 2023 should go on my goals list….

We grabbed some friends and spent the day at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

There is so much to see and do at DMNS that we could spend three full days exploring here!

The kids loved the discovery zone and the new Oceans exhibit.

After getting home we made some peanut butter fudge then went outside to play in our backyard. I am feeling like we need way more time outside and the upcoming weather isn’t looking outside friendly.

Trying to increase our hours outside to over 1000 again is also on my possible family goals list.

I just love her so much! It was pretty chilly out so I made peppermint steamers for the kids to enjoy while playing outside.

After our day at the museum we decided we needed to watch Night at the Museum for the first time. The kids loved it and I loved cuddling on the couch under the softest Christmas blanket.

How is your break going?

Have you started thinking about your 2023 goals/New Years Resolutions?

We have been having some cold but dry weather around here and I am really craving some snowy runs.

I went out running with the kids today on dry tails, which was also nice.

Most of the day we were running errands and preparing for Christmas week, I can’t believe it’s so close! I have not even started wrapping presents….we are in trouble!

We have been having lots of fun with our elves and will miss them when they are gone.

While we haven’t gotten much snow yet, hopefully we will get much more this winter. I am so looking forward to peaceful snowy runs.

I don’t know if it is like this where you live but here in Colorado the temperature matters way less than the weather. If it’s sunny and in the 20s, you can run with just a t-shirt if you want, but when it was actively snowing and a bit windy I needed many more layers. I could run down to 0 F if it was sunny but I have found that if it’s snowy or windy that 16 F is my limit.

Here is what I like to wear to keep things comfortable when it’s snowing:

Gloves are of course an important layer, I have THESE but I am not picky and my hands are usually fine.

When running in the snow I recommend wearing trail running shoes even if you are running on the roads/side walks. The extra traction comes in handy. I actually try to run on trails or paths when it’s snow because I feel like it is less likely to be icy and more forgiving if I were to slip. I have tried Yak-tracks and sheet metal screws as well, but trail shoes are my favorite for snow. If it’s too icy I just like to hit the treadmill.

I love my Hoka Challengers.

Wool socks are a must! These keep my feet warm and do okay if they get damp from the snow.

I love to wear a hat with a bill to keep the snow out of my face and eyes and then put a fleece headband over to keep my ears warm. I have had my headband since college! I like this hat and just got  this headband.

I have THIS neck/face warmer and can breath easily while staying warm *works great for skiing too.

A good jacket is key to feeling good on the run. If it’s not too windy or snowing hard I like my fleece jacket. It breathes well while keeping me warm. If it’s windy, raining or snowing hard I like this down jacket.

This quarter zip is a great base layer *runs small.

Lastly a fleece lined pair of leggings are key. I really like this pair, but if you are looking to save money I have gotten some from Costco for less than $20

Our elves came prepared to travel with us for a day of skiing.

I love these little elf travel cases but any little jar would work! The kids were so excite to take the elves along with us up to the mountains.

We got another prime parking spot even though we left way late again, we really need to work on that. But THANK YOU Keystone Resort for the amazing family parking.

We really wanted to see the other side of the resort and try out the learning hill at Mountain House.

We brought our wagon to lug all our gear and decided to walk instead of taking the shuttle.

It’s a very pretty walk!

We liked these learning hills a lot with multiple magic carpets. We used the ski trainers again with the kids and it worked well. We even moved up to the baby ski lift and bigger hill by the end of the day.

I am so proud of the kids and excited for how much they are loving skiing, I though at least one of them would fight us on it, but they are both stoked.

We are excited to check out some other ski resorts this season as well but are loving Keystone so far.

If you ski or snowboard, where is your favorite place go?

For our first day of winter break we decided we needed a winter hike.

I love the drive into the Canyon, but less so when there is construction.

Luckily I had lots of coffee with me.

We love visiting Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park any time of year. I often come here when I am not sure what the conditions might be because it is a flat easy hike if you want it to be or you can add on as much as you like. We also have big goals to get in really good hiking shape for big hiking trips we have planned for this year.

It was very cold and windy so I am glad I brought all of the kids snow gear, I just wish I had heavier gloves for all of us.

We are also on the hunt for micro spikes for the kids this year so we can hike even when it’s icy. We are considering getting THESE.

We have had these Target snow boots for years and love them, they work really well and hold up. You don’t always need really expensive gear to get out and adventure. Paired with THESE wool socks their feet stay nice and warm.

I have THESE snow boots from Keen that I got the first year we moved to Colorado for winter hiking and snow shoeing. I LOVE these boots after 13 years they are still like new, waterproof, great traction, comfortable and warm. They were such a good buy!

We also bought these balaclavas for the kids for skiing and winter hikes. They wear them under their ski helmets and under knit hats on really cold days.

We have had many different sizes in THESE snow bibs, they have held up well and we have been able to hand them down to Emerald. When the kids where little we liked to get them THESE down bunting.

Under their snow gear the kids both wear THIS base layer from 32 degrees. Then depending on how cold/windy/snowy it is they will wear a sweat suit, jogger set or fleece as a mid layer.

Do you like to hike in the winter?

Do you have a piece of gear that you have loved for over 10 years?

Emmy and I were had a girls day most of the day since Cannon was at school all day but she is already on winter break. I asked her what we should do with our “girl time” and all she wanted to do was play together at home and build. We had Lincoln Logs growing up and my brother bought these for the kids a couple years ago and we love it!

I have a big goal of organizing and donating a bunch of toys over break, we have too many and the kids basically play with the same three building sets. It’s hard because the kids never want to get rid of anything!

We didn’t have too much going on just running around getting kids to and from school, grocery shopping, and finishing up Christmas shopping. Can you believe Christmas is next week?!? We have been having a lot of fun with our elves this year. We added two little babies to the family yesterday so now we also have Pepper and Mint. The babies will sometimes be left at the North Pole nursery when needed LOL.

Here are some easy favorites:

If you do Elf on the Shelf, what is your favorite thing that they have gotten up to?

Do you declutter often? I need to WAY more when we moved into this house it was just the two of us and we had so much room! Now we are bursting at the seems, I get too sentimental but the clutter is driving me crazy. It’s a big goal for 2023 to declutter and let go a lot!

We started our day with a school, I can’t believe we are almost all the way to winter break! Then drove over to our “running trail”

We decided to run easy today and add a little distance. I am so proud of these kiddos loving running and working on our goal of 5k by May.

We ran 1.25 miles before checking out the birds.

We went home finished up so school work, ate lunch then decided we wanted to go to the Children’s Museum.

We always have so much fun here!

The “snow days” theme right now is so fun!

And since it’s baking season I though I would share some of my favorite holiday treats:

It’s officially baking week! I have handful of favorite holiday treats that I make every year to share with family and friends.

I thought I would share a few incase you are looking for some fun easy recipes to try:

Grinch Cookies:

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/cran-pistachio-cookies/e36c24c7-851f-4785-8a9e-13672ef9d97c

These are so easy, delicious and unique. We call them grinch cookies because of their green color.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge

https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/recipe/057411/creamy-marshmallow-peanut-butter-fudge

This fudge is so good and again easy to make! We also make our chocolate fudge using this recipe by subbing chocolate chips in and adding chopped walnuts.

Cranberry Orange Cake

https://www.alattefood.com/cranberry-orange-cake/embed/#?secret=qsI90CyNRS

I am not a hug fan of pie and right after thanksgiving I like something different. This cake is SO good! It’s unique and a very good replacement for pie.

Monkey Bread

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7110/quick-and-easy-monkey-bread/

These are our Christmas morning tradition. They have to sit overnight but are again easy and so good. Maybe not as pretty as cinnamon rolls but I think they taste better.

Peppermint Bark

Peppermint Bark Recipe

https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/peppermint-bark-recipe/embed/#?secret=zzeIZBZ1u4

I always make this peppermint bark for my family for their stockings.

Truffles

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/41236/easy-decadent-truffles/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=Search&clickId=cardslot%202

These are Cory’s favorites but I don’t always have time to make them so they are great valentines treats as well.

Please share your favorite holiday treat!

We started our day with a line up of smoothies.

I love that the kids are into green smoothies and actually ingest some spinach!

Our elves thought it would be a good day for a snowball fight, but sadly we didn’t get the snow that was originally predicted. Sad for all of us, we were hoping for more snow!

We did errand things, and school things and Christmasy things and snuggly things….

In the afternoon we made some Grinch Cookies.

They are actually Cranberry Pistachio cookies and are so delicious! We just call them Grinch cookies because they are green and it’s more fun.

I love an easy recipe that is unique and delicious!

We have also be spending a lot of time planning next years adventures. I think we are close to a final list with a few weekend trips that we will just plan on the go…

I am SO SO SO excited for what we have planned for the year! The hard thing is that we want to see everything and there are so many amazing places to visit. Vacation time and money are always the limiters, but we get lots of travel inspiration from full time van life and travel vloggers on YouTube.

When do you plan out your travel for the year?

Where is your favorite place you have traveled to?

Do you have any favorite travel YouTube channels?

We had a typical easy, fun, slow morning.

We had the normal Monday errands to run including a play ground and the library (always the library).

We hurried home to have an early dinner because we had to celebrate Cannon’s grade on his math final. We considered a toy or gadget but we decided to go mini golfing instead and it was so.much. fun.

Westminster Adventure Golf is open in the evenings with so many Christmas lights.

Cannon was ecstatic and we loved celebrating him and laughing so hard.

Up past our bedtimes.

This is one of our new favorite things to do. We can’t wait to come back when all the water and fire features are on.