Traveling Tips and Advice for the Christmas Season

Are you on the lookout for traveling tips and advice for the Christmas season? Here is something exciting and different that you could do this year. Since children enjoy themselves the most during Christmas you could plan a trip to Lapland.

The land is located in the Arctic Circle. This is where Santa Claus lives. You could celebrate Christmas by meeting Santa Claus, his reindeer and Elves in his residence before he starts off on Christmas Eve. Every child gets to meet Santa and also receives a gift. They can enjoy ride on sleighs that are pulled by reindeer, enjoy log fires that are cozy, Christmas carols, snow mobiles, husky rides and a beautiful Christmas Gala dinner. You will be able to experience a really wonderful Christmas holiday with your family.

You could also celebrate Christmas at the unique Ice Hotel situated in Jukkasjarvi in Sweden. This is located 200 km is the Arctic Circle. It is built every year from ice that is crystal clear that is available from the Tome River that flows very fast. It is designed differently every year along with its suites. You could spend a night in a cozy and warm bed in this hotel. You could then check into a Swedish hotel for the rest of the days. You could indulge in a number of winter activities outdoors or you could sit peacefully by the fireside and play games or read a book.

You could plan a holiday in Sydney, Australia if you have had enough of the snow and cold and wish to celebrate Christmas in summer. The weather there in December is great. You will be able to enjoy Christmas as you normally do with Christmas carols, Christmas trees, Santa Claus and turkey dinner. Sydney hosts various free events in Christmas like the fantastic display of fireworks on New Year's Eve, concerts, slide shows, entertainers and choirs.

You could go on a cruise during the holidays. This would be ideal for mothers because they can relax once the family is on board and the party starts. The adults could relax in the day time while the children enjoy themselves. Evenings would be reserved for decking out for Gala dinners every night during the Christmas season. You and your family could enjoy fantastic entertainment, delicious food as well as a stress free Christmas.

You could go to New England in order to enjoy Christmas. You would come across skaters on a pond that is frozen, white churches having slim spires, cute colonial homes having huge holly wreaths hung on the front doors, lights twinkling on Christmas trees and so on. These are images you will find on thousands of Christmas cards. You will come across beautiful B&B’s and hotels which will give you a fantastic Christmas. These buildings are old colonial style.

Traveling during the holiday season can add a wonderful touch to the magic of the season. But children often worry that Santa won’t be able to find them when they are away from home. To relieve their anxiety just take along your paper, pens, and envelopes and have the kids write a letter to Santa when they arrive at your destination. Then in a day or two you could have authentic letters from Santa delivered to your children at your holiday location. The kids will be amazed that Santa found them so quickly and this will truly brighten the entire holiday event. Be sure to have your camera ready to capture the moment your kids the personalized letters from Santa Claus. And don’t be surprised if the letters become long cherished childhood keepsakes. Your kids will always associate wonderful memories with the letters and your holiday vacation. Just plan ahead and you can make it happen! Your kids will be surprised and delighted.

Preparing Your Home for Christmas Guests

If many guests are expected for Christmas in your home it is best to plan everything in advance. Since taking care of every little thing can stress you out, you could start preparations early at a time when you have an hour or two to spare. It is always best to check the amount of space in the house before you invite people over.

Make sure that you have bedding, sleeping bags, inflatable beds or beds for people other than your family members. If space is not a problem but the bedding is you could ask your guests to bring along bedding of their own depending on your relationship with them or else you would have to check them into a B&B or a local hotel. You will have to do the bookings way in advance because they would be filled up for Christmas. Usually children love sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor because they think of it as an adventure.

When you have sent out invitations start planning the purchases you have to make and the things that will have to be accomplished before hand. It is best not to leave anything at the last moment. If you find it difficult to handle things on your own, delegate jobs as well as deadlines for them to be completed to the members in your house. Always try and do a little work every weekend a couple of months before Christmas. Make nibbles and food that can be defrosted and also heated when required with minimum supervision so that you will get more time to socialize and converse with your guests and spend less time slaving away in the kitchen. You could opt for ready-made dips and healthy snacks that are easily available in supermarkets so that you can have a relaxed evening. Sip on a drink and put up your feet. You need to enjoy Christmas, too.

It is your duty to make your guests very comfortable. See to it that you have spare toiletries and plenty of towels in case they have not brought them along. Give them some space so that they could hang up their clothes. Keep some activities and games ready before your guests arrive so that they can enjoy themselves. Dominoes, Card games, Jigsaws, Pictionary, Scrabble and Monopoly are enjoyed by one and all. Ensure that you complete all your house work so that you need not run around even when your guests have arrived. Have some DVDs ready so that they are occupied.

If your guests will include children you will need to provide everything needed for that special letter to Santa. These letters are an important Christmas tradition for most families in the United States and Canada. The letters provide information for adults about what the children want for Christmas and they offer kids a fun activity. If you really want to impress your guests you can have personalized letters from Santa delivered to your home for them. This will delight the kids and it will insure them that Santa will know where to find them on Christmas. Something as small as these inexpensive packages from Santa can be the highlight of the holiday season for kids. If you plan everything in advance you will be able to enjoy yourself in the company of your guests. Preparing your home for Christmas guests will be a breeze if you start way in advance.

Christmas Safety Tips While You Write Personalized Santa Claus Letters For Every Home

In this day and age, Christmas safety is a huge consideration. There are many products on the market that are not safe for little children – the truth is, kids are curious and most things have to be touched and tasted. That of course poses a significant danger. Christmas is a wonderful holiday and the last thing in the world you want to happen is to rush to the hospital because your child swallowed a small Christmas ball or other item. In order to be safe this and every Christmas, here are some tips to get you through the holidays safe and sound.

In general, it is important to practice good safety measures not only on Christmas but throughout the year. As your children stay up late creating their personalized Santa Claus letters, you need to ensure that the front door is locked. It’s easy to get caught up in festivities as you teach your children good letter-writing skills and forget about your security as you write the letters to Santa. For this reason, making safety a habit is advisable not just for Christmas but the whole year through.

1. Child proof your house
Remember that children put small things in their mouth and tend to swallow them. For this reason, don’t leave bowls of peanuts, walnuts or chestnuts lying around where children can easily reach them and put them in their mouth. Nuts with hard shells as well as tiny Christmas décor are choking hazards. Avoid hanging small trimmings on the tree where tiny hands can reach up and grab them. Avoid using glass bowls that you used to use when you were not a parent yet, now that you have children, these will undoubtedly fall and crash to the floor.

2. Fire-proof your house
As a matter of fact, something as seemingly safe as letter to Santa can become a fire hazard if you are not careful. For Christmas lights need to pass safety accreditation. There are many different varieties of Christmas lights you can decorate your tree with. Not all of these Christmas lights come from legitimate companies. In other words, you need to make sure that the Christmas lights you end up purchasing comes from a recommended or a trustworthy manufacturer rather than from a company which is just out to make a quick buck. Many cases of trees getting burned from bad wiring that the Christmas lights are made with can be avoided by purchasing lights made by a well-recommended Christmas light company that has a good reputation. This is especially true if you decide to purchase your lights online through online stores or auctions.

3. Protect your home this Christmas from theft
Any time of the year, some neighborhoods are vulnerable to thefts. Christmas is an emotional time for many people, provoking some to commit attempted burglaries in neighborhood homes. For this reason, you need to identify which parts of your house need more security measures in order to protect your belongings as well as your family. Be sure that the lighted Christmas décor on your lawn has a chain attached to it that bolts to your porch. These days, something as seemingly safe from theft such as Christmas décor are also targets thieves may become attracted to. Check the locks on your door and make sure your house is secure before you sleep. Christmas is a time where people relax and drink more than the usual amounts of alcohol. Thus, you need to be extra alert for doors that have been left unlocked by one family member or guests who stay over in your house who mistakenly leave your front door or back door unlocked.

Planning ahead will help with improving the safety of your home during the holiday season and all year round. Although it may seem bothersome at times the safety of your family is certainly a worthwhile effort.

Santa Letters For Those Special Kodak Moments

Last year I was ready and waiting when my three grandchildren received their letters from Santa. You see, writing a Letter to santa has been a family holiday tradition since I was a child. For as long as I can remember the evening of Thanksgiving Day has always been designated as the official and traditional time for children of the family to write Santa Claus a letter and work on Christmas craft projects. This always seemed like the perfect way to end the Thanksgiving holiday and bring in the Christmas season.

Santa Letters are excitedly discussed over the meal and the children’s enthusiasm for writing grows long before dessert begins. As the writing begins each child has his/her own ideas about what must be included. One may feel the need to explain away a few bad grades or even some misbehavior and another may only make a list of what the perfect Christmas gifts under the tree would be. This varies from child to child and even from year to year.

When the letters are ready they are stuffed into envelopes and addressed to Santa at the North Pole. Then the wait begins. The children look forward to receiving a response to their letters. In years gone by this was a difficult task to carry out because as parents, we had to somehow get the ‘Letter from Santa’ into the mailbox at a time that would make the children believe it was delivered by the mail carrier. The other challenge was writing a letter that seemed authentic enough to be believable.

Nowadays parents do not have to do any sneaky work at all. Fortunately, there are now ways to have genuine letters from Santa delivered by your official mail carrier, along with other mail. And that brings us to where I was yesterday when my three grandchildren received their Christmas letters.

Daniel, my oldest is 10 and he was on the fence about believing in Santa Claus at all. When he received his letter his look was one of amazement. His eyes were wide and he almost looked afraid to open it. Savannah is 9 years old and an avid believer. When she saw the letter addressed to her it was as if she had known it was going to arrive at just that moment – no surprises at all; but Savannah read her letter in private before she shared it with us. Madilynn is only 3. She believes wholeheartedly and the simple fact that Santa wrote her a letter made her shrill with delight.

While each of my grandchildren had a different reaction, each facial expression was priceless – they were what people often refer to as Kodak moments!