2016 was quite a year! We saw half the country on road trips, my daughter learned to walk, my husband graduated from college, Hayden turned five, I had a really big birthday, and I started this little blog. I am really looking forward to what 2017 holds, but before we get there I want to commemorate 2016 by sharing some of the highlights!
We Welcomed 2016 at Home
We kicked off the new year at our house for the second year in a row with our amazing friends and neighbors! We hosted a family friendly low key new years eve party where the kids trash the play room and the adults kick back and relax. It was Brylee’s first new year’s eve, and she didn’t last long at the party. The next day there was a massive toy purge. Instead of putting it all away we donated the toys that we had outgrown. It was nice to see the space looking like the dream playroom I always imagined… Even if it was only for a day. I love starting the new year giving back!
Road Trips
We also spent a lot of time traveling this year. We took several trips to Disney. I know this isn’t totally unexpected, but we spent a good amount of the trips off property. For big Disney fans like us that is a big deal. We discovered several amazing hotels near Disney for a fraction of the cost of staying on property allowing us to put more money toward other trips.
In March, we had a trip booked to Disney for Bryan and Brylee’s birthdays, but we had the week split into a staycation until Tuesday then Disney until Sunday. We got home from work on Friday and Bryan was ready to start our travel early. We kicked around a couple of ideas for how we could spend those first couple of days, but went to bed undecided. The next morning Bryan still wanted to go somewhere, so we hit the road. We arrived at I-10, about 10 minutes from our house, and Bryan asked “West or North?”. I said “West” and off to California we went. We cancelled our Disney trip from the road and ended up on the trip of a lifetime driving across the country with our two small kids. Some of the trip highlights were San Antonio, Disneyland, Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon. Sweet Brylee spent her first birthday at the Grand Canyon, and Hayden got knocked over by a wave on the edge of the pacific. This really was an amazing trip, and this time with my family was absolutely precious.
In May, Bryan graduated from Liberty University. I am so proud of him! Being an adult student with a family, a full time job, and a side hustle as musician, completing his degree with honors was quite an accomplishment. This is something we have wanted for him for so long, so to see it finally happen was really special. We drove to Lynchburg, VA to see him graduate and we had a little fun while we were there sledding on a mountain with no snow.
All this traveling really gave us the road trip bug, so in October we headed out again. We spent ten days on the road on what is now the best vacation of my life. We drove from Florida to Maine to Niagara Falls and back. With the experience of our trips to California and Virginia behind us, we were much more prepared for road tripping with kids. We showed the kids some of our favorite places like Washington, D.C. and New York City, and we saw some amazing bucket list places like lighthouses in Maine, Niagara Falls, and the gorgeous mountains of West Virginia.
Milestones
Brylee turned one this year, and even though we were on the road for her actual birthday we didn’t miss the chance to have the perfect garden to celebrate her first year when we got home. It was a pretty big year for her with all that learning to walk, talk and other toddler awesomeness.
Hayden turned five in September. We missed the cut off for Kindergarten by just a couple of weeks, but I’m sort of glad he gets to be just a kid for another year. We had an amazing Superhero Birthday party at the pool. Yay for Florida in the fall! He also started VPK this year, played his second season of soccer, and got to hang out at some pretty cool places with his BFF Josh.
Bryan and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary in October right before we headed out on the road for our big fall road trip. 10 years, y’all! Our marriage is stronger than ever, and I can’t wait to see what the next 10 hold.
Holidays
We spent pretty much every holiday at home this year hanging out with friends and family. More than once this year, our amazing friends have invited us to their home to celebrate a holiday. Thanksgiving was especially memorable. We spent the day at Friendsgiving enjoying a beautiful meal and great company. We closed out the year the way it began with another New Year’s Eve party at our house. It was really low key and relaxing this year. The weather has been really warm here this year, so the kids played on the trampoline while the adults hung out by the fire pit. Later, we played games while the kids watched a movie, and the party went on well past midnight. It was a really fantastic way to greet 2017!
Hello 2017! I’m so excited to see 2017 and everything it will hold for me and my family! I have some big goals for this year, and I’m going to be so hustling to reach them. As we move into 2017 what do you have on your vision board? I would love to hear all about your goals for the new year!
Chrishelle Ebner says
Your family is so beautiful. Sounds like you had a great 2016. Like you, I am excited for all the possibilities 2017 holds for my family.
TwoLittleRippers says
Thank you so much Chrishelle! Happy New Year! I hope 2017 is everything you can imagine!
Hanna Smith says
Looks like your family had a great year! Heres to 2017!
TwoLittleRippers says
Cheers! Happy New Year!
Ashley says
What a wonderful, fun-filled year you had! Hoping the year ahead is even greater!
TwoLittleRippers says
Thanks Ashley! It was pretty amazing! I hope you have an amazing year!
Rachel says
It sounds like you had an absolutely perfect 2016! We celebrated in many of the same ways (minus Disney lol).
TwoLittleRippers says
There is so much Disney in my life! (maybe too much!) Happy New Year!