This year, I did a Christmas Countdown with Sam and Campbell (click here for Part 1 and Part 2).

Here are activities 13-18. Stay tuned for part 4 for the rest of our Christmas Calendar activities!

Day 13: Make a Hanukkah Star

This was just a cute little craft I saw on Pinterest. Nothing fancy, but Sam had fun painting, gluing, and glittering!

Day 14: Make Christmas Cookies

These were some delicious cookies! My friend Nicole had dropped off a jar filled with the dry ingredients as a little Christmas treat. So Sam and I just added the butter and eggs, mixed, formed into little balls, baked, and pigged out. Yum!

Day 15: Visit a Winter Wonderland (aka National Harbor)

The Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor puts on quite the Christmas show. We decided to take the kids down there for the light show, tree lighting, and indoor snow. It was pretty fun but SOOO crowded. It would have been a lot more fun with about 50% fewer people. Not sure if we will go back.

Day 16: Go See the White House Christmas Tree

This was a big fat fail! As we were driving downtown on Sunday night, it started raining. It didn’t seem that bad so we decided to just keep going, especially since we’d been talking it up all day. We miraculously found a pretty decent parking spot, got out of the car, and started walking to the tree. Well then it REALLY started pouring. By the time we got back to the car, we were all cold and miserable. But at least we can say we saw the White House tree!

Day 17: Make a Gingerbread House

I got this gingerbread kit from Trader Joe’s. It was very easy to put together and Sam found it to be very tasty!

Day 18: Make Snow

This was another Pinterest find. Just mix cornstarch and shaving cream. Makes a big mess but it was totally worth it. Sam loved it!