Savory Sweet Adventures: Happy Christmas from Galway!

Christmas was done a little different for the Jones clan this year. No large parties, no decorating the house, no cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Though I have to admit that I did miss those things this year...what we did have was a special little Christmas with just our little family. I think the end result turned out perfect for all involved!

This was our home for Christmas this year. If you ever find yourself in Galway, do yourself a favor and stay here! The staff are some of the kindest and friendliest people I've met. It's located a very short walk from the city center and the train station. Even the food is good! Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Across the street from our hotel was a small "pop up" ice skating rink. We thought the lil one would be ready for ice skating...but we were wrong. She was super nervous, and I just hope we haven't scarred her for life in the skating department. The hubs and I took some turns around the rink by ourselves. I hadn't been skating since high school...so to say I was a it rusty was an understatement. Not to mention the ice wasn't very smooth, more like what I would think of as skating on an actual frozen pond. At least I didn't fall!

For another first, we took the lil one bowling one night. She liked this much better than the skating, even managed to get her first strike! We all had a blast until we had to walk home in a hail storm. The weather in Galway was pretty nuts this time!

This was the first year the lil one was really into Santa Claus. We had to stop and say hello to everyone we saw...and these are only two of them! She captured the top Santa two nights in a row and got him to dance with her then received a special Christmas Day present from the bottom Santa at our hotel on Christmas Day. He brought her a "laundry game" where you have to find matching socks that you pull our of a cardboard washing machine. With as much as she's been into helping with the laundry lately, Santa really had been watching her.

As for our Christmas morning, this year was done super simple. The hubs got me some Kinder eggs, warm and cozy "cupcake" socks and a beautiful Claddagh ring with his birthstone in the middle.

For him, I turned to Pinterest to find something simple that would still be meaningful. Inside the card box are 12 more cards with date night ideas on them. A gift that keeps on giving the whole year! And better still, he won't know what's on the cards until that month comes. This gift would drive me crazy....but he liked it!