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Home » Holidays & Special Days » Christmas » Christmas Activities: Christmas Express

Christmas Activities: Christmas Express

November 30, 2012 by KC Coake 22 Comments

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I have been waiting a year to write this post! I am really excited to share today’s idea with you. Today, I’m sharing a Christmas Activity that has become a new Christmas tradition in our house. It is a fantastic Christmas activity for kids as well as for the whole family. We had so much fun!

Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
This is one of the few stops where we had to get out of the car.
My girls were a little embarrassed to be in their pajamas for this one.
I’m sure I am totally helping by posting it on my blog. 😉
The fun started with I saw this idea on another blog I follow. (Confessions of a Homeschooler) She wrote a post with a cute printable about the idea of doing a Mini Van Express based on the book, The Polar Express. (Mini-Van Express Tickets) You can follow that link to download the free tickets.
The idea is that one night during the Christmas season, you have your kids great ready for bed following their normal routine, but when they get their bed ready or go to bed, they will find a Christmas Express ticket under their pillow. Before you place the ticket under the pillow, you and/or your spouse have planned a route to go look at Christmas lights. In addition to going to look at lights, you can add the fun of hot chocolate and popcorn for the family.

What could be more fun than a late night to look at Christmas lights with hot chocolate and popcorn while in your cozy pajamas listening to Christmas music!

My kids had no idea what the ticket was when they found it because we had never done this before. They have already asked about when they will find a ticket this year….ummm it’s a secret, kiddos!
Once I explained what the ticket was for, all kinds of screaming and excitement ensued!
Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
I caught Pumpkin in mid-jump!
Do you think she is excited?!

 

My girls are always asking to go look at lights, but it always seems like we are on our way home from somewhere, have a time frame, or it is near their bedtime, so the answer is usually, “No.” Yep, I feel like a bad mom writing that, but it is the truth and I’m gonna guess I’m not alone.

Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
Both girls were so excited!
This activity was a huge win win for the whole family. We finally got to look at the lights they always want to see and we had a super fun family night. We stayed out until after 10 pm looking at lights! My kids, still didn’t want to come home.
Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
After the girls got their tickets punched by the conductor, we set off for our first stop.
If you know me at all or have read my blog a few times, you probably know of my Starbucks addiction. It went perfectly with this Christmas activity. We stopped by our local Starbucks before we began our trip. Each family member got a Kid’s hot chocolate! Yum! (Buying the Kid’s size, kept this treat reasonable for our family budget.)
Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
What fun would the hot chocolate be without some yummy popcorn? Now we were ready to set of on the Christmas Express! I did my best flight attendant schpeal (from my fight attendant days)introducing Mr. T as the conductor and setting our safety rules (hehe) and we were off.
Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
We saw some fantastic Christmas light displays.
Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
I will remember this one forever. It was so neat. The house had it’s own radio station. The lights were set to the music. As if that wasn’t fun enough, can you see the light in the window above the front door? That is what I am guessing was a TV. It was playing a loop of Santa doing things. He would wave, then he would go get presents and his bag ready, then come back to the window and wave again and so on. It was sooo cool! It was my favorite house for sure!
Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
We saw some houses that , to me, were a bit over the top. Apparently this house had been featured on TLC. We knew it must be something amazing by the number of bus light tours lined up to see it.
Christmas activities - cute idea that the whole family will enjoy to make a  Christmas Express a new family tradition #Christmas #Activities #Traditions
We even saw a house or two, with my other favorite Christmas activity…gingerbread houses. You can see our houses from last year (Gingerbread Houses) and stay tuned, I’m sure I will post our houses from this year once we have made them. The gingerbread houses are a family tradition that was started in 1976 (when I was 5).

Well, there you have it. I hope you try out this Christmas activity. If you do, I doubt you will be disappointed  We had so much fun and I hope you do too! Can’t wait for the Christmas Express to come this year!

What is your favorite Christmas Activity?

 

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Hi! I'm KC. I'm a single mom of 2 girls who loves all things creative. Whether it's making something crafty or tackling that DIY project, I'm gonna have some fun and stay organized in the process. 😊 Read More…

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Comments

  1. Dara says

    November 30, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    that looks like fun. we don’t celebrate christmas and we still like looking at the light displays in the area! you used to be a flight attendant??

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 4, 2012 at 12:59 am

      Maybe you could call yours the Holiday express or the Hanukkah express. It is so much fun to go look at lights. There is a house near us that is all blue and white lights, it is so pretty! I often wonder if they just like blue and white or if they are Jewish. Maybe there are some like that you could sprinkle in .
      Yes, I was a flight attendant for a short time.
      Take care,
      KC

      Reply
  2. Jim says

    November 30, 2012 at 3:55 pm

    Please book Grandpa & Grandma for the Polar Express on Dec 20. Add it to our hotel billing. THX!

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 4, 2012 at 1:08 am

      Wish I could Dad! We don’t have a car big enough for all of us and we plan to head out on the Christmas Express before you get here.
      KC

      Reply
  3. [email protected] says

    November 30, 2012 at 4:59 pm

    So fun! And thanks for your sweet comment on my peppermint wreath! I also checked out your first half marathon post! Way to go! That is awesome!

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 4, 2012 at 1:09 am

      Oh, Thank you. It is so much fun! Thank for stopping by and your kind comments.
      KC

      Reply
  4. Kristine says

    November 30, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    Fun! Love this post! I’ll see if I can implement this… my kids would love it!

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 4, 2012 at 1:11 am

      Thanks Kristine! I hope you are able to try it….you guys will have so much fun. Would it be OK if I sent something to ‘A’ that I have extra of, but I don’t have anything for ‘J.’ It is something for her AG dolls. I have nothing boy that I could add and I don’t want him to feel left out. Let me know what you think.
      KC

      Reply
  5. Stacy Risenmay says

    November 30, 2012 at 11:34 pm

    That is so unbelievably CUTE! I want to do it with my kids. I bet they would just DIE with excitement 🙂 Thank you so much for the good idea!

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 4, 2012 at 1:14 am

      You are so welcome! I am sure your kids will love it! My kids keep asking, when they will get tickets this year. It was fun to see them run up the stairs this weekend each time we told them it was time to get ready for bed. Of course they were disappointed we haven’t gone yet, but it will happen soon!
      Have fun!
      KC

      Reply
  6. Kelley @ TheGrantLife.com says

    December 2, 2012 at 5:19 am

    Oh my goodness! This is the cutest idea ever! I cant wait to take my kiddos to see the lights! 🙂

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 4, 2012 at 1:55 am

      Thanks, Kelley! I’m sure your kids will have lots of fun going to see the lights! Hopefully you will, too! 😉
      Take care,
      KC

      Reply
  7. Reduce, Reuse, Renewed says

    December 2, 2012 at 4:01 pm

    What a cute idea to jazz up Christmas light seeing. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 4, 2012 at 1:57 am

      You are welcome! Have fun.
      KC

      Reply
  8. Jennifer Hicks says

    December 4, 2012 at 6:12 am

    I totally want to do this when my girls get older. Great memories in the making.

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 5, 2012 at 2:17 am

      Great memories in the making for sure! I’m sure you will have so much fun when your girls are old enough. Enjoy!
      KC

      Reply
  9. kelly says

    December 5, 2012 at 3:48 am

    A great idea. I might try it for one of our Advent Calendar ideas. My kids are a bit older. I might have to try a different approach. It is all very exciting though!!

    Kelly

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 7, 2012 at 3:50 am

      Glad you like the idea. Have fun in whatever form you try the idea.
      KC

      Reply
  10. frolickingflamingo.com says

    December 6, 2012 at 1:50 am

    Fantastic idea! Our boys love to look at Christmas lights and we took them on the “Polar Express” train in Bryson City last Christmas. They’ll absolutely love this combination.

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 7, 2012 at 4:08 am

      I so wish we had a ‘Polar Express’ train here. They are so neat! We had one in a different state we lived in. I hope if you try this idea, it is lots of fun for the whole family.
      Take Care,
      KC

      Reply
  11. jeannine: waddlee-ah-chaa says

    December 6, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    Oh your girls look so sweet. What a fun surprise.

    And wow, those are some serious light displays!

    Stopping in from HHH

    Reply
    • K Coake says

      December 7, 2012 at 4:11 am

      Thank you, they are sweet (most of the time)! They sure were great light displays.
      KC

      Reply

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