This week, I wanted to share a little about our Christmas in July celebration – belated though this post may be.
Joy, Robyn and I have made an annual tradition over the last three or four years of celebrating Christmas in July with our children.
The first year, we exchanged gifts – school supplies and books as we looked ahead to the impending school year. Another year, we got crafty with glue, salt, and watercolor paint to make fun snowflakes. And last year, I shared a brief glimpse of our “fry” themed Christmas in July and the fun pop-a-cup Christmas tree game we played with the kids.
Well, this year, we mixed it up again.
Firstly, we had to postpone our initial celebration because one of my kiddos was sick.
We ended up rescheduling during a particularly chaotic week (since half our kids were in camp and the rest were participating in a morning VBS program at a local church), so we aimed to keep things simple.
We kicked the celebration off with a “snowball” water balloon fight and a makeshift slip-n-slide.
While the kids were getting wet, we finished preparing the food spread.
If you haven’t figured this out yet, we basically devise celebrations and other excuses to make lots of delicious food.
The menu included:
- Strawberry goat cheese salad with mixed greens, sliced almonds, red onion, cucumber, goat cheese, and fresh strawberries – all topped with a poppyseed dressing
- Magic green cookies (made with sunflower butter, which reacts with the baking soda to turn the cookies green!)
- Mango slices
- Strawberries, celery, bell peppers, and cucumbers
- Freshly made guacamole
- Sun Chips
- Roasted potato wedges with homemade vegan queso
- Baked chicken nuggets and tenders (including a gluten-free option)
- Thai peanut brussel sprouts
Aside from the water fun and the delectable eatables, we played Christmas music and watched the kids jump on the trampoline.
Simple, wholesome, delicious fun.
Oh, and an added bonus?
We had leftover chicken nuggets that I reheated and served over mashed potatoes with homemade gravy for a simple dinner!
Merry (belated) Christmas in July, all!