Philly cheesesteaks, matching PJs, holiday classics and lots of family time | our Christmas break

You know that my family and I love to travel but for some reason we like to be home for the holidays.  Ever since I got married (back in 2003!!) my husband and I take off the week before Christmas and New Jerseys to enjoy some down time.  And of course this tradition became even more important once we became parents – it is really nice to have some time not to rush anywhere, to spend time with family, to watch movies and play board games.    And that’s exactly what we did!

We hosted our 10th annual Christmas Eve dinner at our house and it was so great to have my whole extended family (all 21 of us!) over!  True to tradition, I managed to set a fire alarm with my cooking but my family has come to accept and even expect that:)   There was some smoke but a lot more laughter!:)

And on Christmas morning all five of us (yes, Franny as well!) wore our matching Christmas PJs , opened presents, played two rounds of Harry Potter Clue (that my kids won), went on an annual Christmas day hike, had leftovers for lunch and Chinese food for dinner – while watching a holiday classic – Die Hard!

And a couple of days later we headed to Philly for a few nights.  We love going to Philadelphia – it is so close and there is so much to see there!  Our first stop was Philly Cheesesteak of course.  We always go to Geno’s but this time around we decided to try something new and checked out John’s Roast Pork. It caught my attention because it was a James Beard award and it was really good!

We walked all over, checked out cool murals and mosaics:

Visited the Barnes Foundation for their special exhibit on Berthe Morison (if you are in Philly I cannot recommend this exhibit highly enough!) and took a tour with a really helpful and interesting docent.

And no trip to Philly can be complete without a visit to Frankly Institute, which is always a favorite:

After Philly we stopped by Ocean City New Jersey – we go there every summer and it was really cool being there off season.  We thought we would have the whole place to ourselves but it was surprisingly crowded!  My girls loved running on the beach and walking through an amusement park dismantled for the winter.

And then we headed to Avon-by-the-Sea where we met with my whole family (all 19 of us) to celebrate New Years!  Wearing matching family PJs, playing board games, treasure hunts, walks on the beach, drawing in the sand, and lots and lots of laughter – we did it all in 48 years we spent together!

 

This Christmas break was the one for the books – the best way to end this year!  Cannot wait to see what this year will bring!!