Our NEW family Christmas tradition

We had a ball hanging out together as a family at the Houstonian. We took lots of naps, went to the movies to see "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler, watched lots of TV in the room and even went swimming in the hotels three (heated) pools.

When we got to the hotel on Christmas day, the hotel was beautifully decorated with a humongous Christmas tree and the hotel even had a train that went around the top of the doubled sided fireplace found in the center of the lobby sitting area. It was fun to watch it go by and everyone visiting the hotel was busy taking pictures in front of the Christmas tree- we got a family picture too and then headed to the brunch.

The food was amazing...and it should be. The Christmas brunch runs $62.50 adult and $25.50 for children ages 5-12 (4 and under eat free). The hotel shuffles people through the brunch for 4 hours (11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.) and they have it perfectly orchestrated since reservations are required. We had fun taking turns to go back to get more and if the kids didn't like what they had chosen- there were no hurt feelings or frustrations from Mommy. I would just say, "Go get something else- you can get whatever you like"!! For the record, the turkey, squash casserole, cornbread dressing, and mashed potatoes were the BOMB! There was so much to choose from that I am certain anyone could have found their favorites! Delish...and so filling! And Teague concentrated very intently on getting his blueberries onto a fork and into his mouth which allowed us plenty of time to enjoy the fixins'!!

We went straight back to the room and had to all take a nap. Later that evening, we went to see "Bedtime Stories" at the movie theater. We were so excited that the movie was good since some of the best previews for funny movies end up being just that...the best previews. This one, I can recommend. It was cute!

The next day we woke up and went to eat breakfast and took some time to walk the property of the hotel. You would never know you were in Houston surrounded by skyscrapers and tall business buildings when you are there. It is serene and a great hotel with superb service. I told Jerrod that we didn't have to get on a plane to get "away" ever again. I would be just as happy at the Houstonian spending my days relaxing in a quiet room (or quiet hot tub) surrounded by lush landscaping!

We took TONS of pictures laughing hysterically at one another over the last two days since Bailey got a camera for Christmas. She has really taken to photography and will be a big help when I need a camera around- and I noticed another thing...I just may make it in some pictures now since I won't be taking them all!! We took them outside the hotel with the statues, eating breakfast together, at dinner last night and of course, goofing off in the hotel room and swimming at the pool. It was also fun to ride through River Oaks and look at their amazing Christmas decorations last night. WOW!

I really hope this is something that we can do again in the future. It was a lot of fun spending undivided time with each other and just relaxing doing NOTHING but spending time together. Jerrod and I even looked at each other a couple of times and asked, "is it only 11:oo a.m.? and what do you want to do now?". We just don't say those kinds of things to each other at home. There is always something to do here- there is always laundry to be done, dishes to do, meals to make, and distractions to keep us from spending time together. With this many kids, we have to make a commitment to spend time together and this experience allowed us the opportunity to do it. I will never forget these last two days and the fun we had as a family together. I am glad we left our gifts at home (well, most of them), chores at home and stopped to enjoy one another. It was a real treat for our family-it was pricey, I know, but really just PRICELESS...