Holiday Getaways • Kath Eats

We went on two holiday getaways this Christmas! Here’s the recap of our trip to Williamsburg and Hillsborough. 

Holiday Getaways

I hope you all had a very nice week with family and friends. We took two trips, one before Christmas and one after. I’m ready to get cozy and settle into January now! 

Busch Gardens + Williamsburg

On Friday the 22nd, we took the kids to Christmastown at Busch Gardens. The theme park gets decorated with tons of holiday lights with everything Christmas themed. This was my first time going! I actually haven’t been to Busch Gardens even in the warm months since I was in high school. We are already planning a trip back in the summer. 

Arrival

The park opened at 2pm, and we got there right when the gates opened. We should have gone to one or two of the big coasters to avoid lines, but instead we meandered around. Mazen and I waited in a way-too-long to ride a 30 second Grover coaster : )

Pantheon

We noticed the wait for the Pantheon coaster was short, and Thomas went on the best ride of his life. By the time he was off, the line was too long for me to go, so I will have to wait for the summertime!

Kid Rides

Neither of our boys are into thrill rides, but Birch went on the Himalaya and they did a few smaller rides together. 

Bundle Up

We waited for a “warm” day that peaked in the 50s but we also knew we’d have to plan to wear tons of layers. It was ok from 2-6 and then it got really cold. Wool socks and hand warmers were a must. I had on 4 layers.

Gourmet Dinner in Germany

We had a very theme park dinner of two pizzas and a beer while watching a merry merry Christmas show and warming up. 

Games We Didn’t Win

Thomas tried hard!

Train Ride + Light Tour

The highlight for me was the train ride around the whole park. The lights were spectacular! 

Donuts For Dessert

Williamsburg Lodge

We spent the night at the Williamsburg Lodge, which I got for free using a Marriott free night award I got from opening a Marriott Boundless card last year. 

We had breakfast at the hotel – avocado toast for me! 

Pancakes for big boy: 

Colonial Williamsburg 

After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and went to Colonial Williamsburg to walk around. We got to see Thomas’s aunt and cousin who live a few blocks away. 

Ice skating

The boys saw the skating rink and wanted to give it a try. Mazen has rollerbladed before and took to ice skating no problem. Birch did pretty well too! He spent some time on the plastic bear sleds too. 

Find pile of dirty snow = make snowballs 

Santa Sighting

We bumped into one of Santa’s helpers who was on his motorcycle and passing out beanie babies! 

Lunch at the Cheese Shop

Video Recap Of Our Trip

via Instagram!

Christmas in Cville

We drove home on Saturday and spent a day at home getting ready for Christmas. We took the boys to see Wonka and loved it. 

We spent Christmas Eve at Thomas’s parents enjoying Christmas pizza! 

Christmas Creativity

Mazen really got into the holiday spirit making it special for Birch. He made this video after we all went to bed of our family Elf on a hunt for sugar. 

And he even received some texts on his phone from Santa : ) 

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning went great! The boys slept till 7 and we opened gifts by firelight. Birch got a lot of Mandalorian themed gifts, and Mazen got Legos and an Xbox! 

We got puzzles – and new tires for our car – ugh! 

Chocolate Brioche French Toast

Boy was this good!!!

Home For The Holidays

After the house was tidied, and the gifts unwrapped, we hit the road for two nights in Hillsborough! My sister and her fam plus her in-laws were there for our annual Christmas reunion. 

We had ham, brussels, rolls, brandied pears, corn pudding, and more. I was not the best photographer, but I did capture the kids table! 

We had three pies and lots of ice cream for dessert – yuummmm! 

Secret Santa

During our annual Elfster gift exchange I got this beautiful cocktail shaker (mine is plastic!) and an Athleta gift card for some new athleisure : ) 

The Christmas Mouse

Adding a little excitement to bedtime, there was a Christmas mouse who ran the perimeter of the living room! Good thing I was upstairs when I spotted it. 

Cousin Time

In between pastries and pie, the cousins played and played. 

We said goodbye to them on the 26th 🙁 

We had a low key boxing day. Thomas and I both did workouts and enjoyed a mid-day visit to the Colonial Inn while Mazen played with his neighbor friend and Mom and Dad played with Birch. 

The Orange County

Life-Long Friends

In the evening some of my childhood friends came to visit. 

Birch loved Uncle Hugh and Uncle Larry!

Wishing you all lightness and love for the new year!