If you caught my last blog post, then you read about a tradition we have started in our family of fully taking advantage of the season by doing different activities every day leading up to Christmas. Before you think I’m completely crazy, some are bigger activities, like a special trip to the aquarium or seeing the local Christmas parade; others are simply reading a Christmas book or baking some cookies.
If you reading this and do not know, our family currently consists of my husband and I️, and our little guy, Drew. He is 1.5 years old. So for reference, simple is best for us right now! We live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, so these will all revolve around areas local-ish to us. 
As planning this year, I came across a lot of things that are awesome that I wanted to share with you. Some we will be doing, and others we are having to pass on because of scheduling issues. They were too good to keep to myself, so here they are!
Dollar days at the National Aquarium
The weekend of December 9-10, you can purchase your tickets for the aquarium in Baltimore for only $1! You and see all the details here. This is falling on the busiest weekend in December for our family, so we won’t be doing our trip on these particular days, but I did discover some other ways to save on our trip.
If you purchase your tickets after 5pm on Friday nights, you can get your tickets for half price!
If you are a Maryland resident, you can get your tickets for $10 off adult tickets and $5 off children’s tickets Sunday- Friday when you purchase your tickets before 11am. Check out all the details for that one here.
Lights on the Bay<<<<<<<<
mething we did last year that we are repeating this year. If you have never been, it's an awesome drive through light display at Sandy Point State Park. It runs daily from November 18, 2017- January 1, 2018. This is a great one if you have very little ones because you stay in your car and the lights are so entertaining for them. Drew was captivated by them last year. Tickets are $15 per car, but there are local businesses that have coupons as well. You can see all the details here.
Zoolights at the D.C. Zoo<<<<<<<<
mething I came across as a suggested event on Facebook, and I'm so glad that I did! It looks like an absolute blast, and we have added it to our schedules for this year. From Friday, November 24, 2017- Monday, January 1, 2018 from 5pm-9pm, you can check out their delight displays and musical light show. Admission is free! There are also some different additional events including a Glow Zone play area for kids and a holiday marketplace; you can check out all the details here. (Psst, if you have been to this before, I’d love to hear any feedback or tips you may have!)
Winterfest of Lights<<<<<<<<
reat place to see some awesome light displays is at the Winterfest of Lights in Ocean City, MD. They are open Sunday-Thursday, 5:30-9:30 pm and 5:30-10:30 pm Friday-Saturday. They have a Holiday Marketplace where you can get pictures with Santa… Look at our little guy last year! 
Ride through the lights on a tram. Tickets are $5 for guest 12 years and older. Kids 11 and under ride for free! If you have not been to this before, be sure to bundle up to truly enjoy the lights. We bring blankets and bundle up ourselves for the ride.
Premier Cinemas <<<<<<<<
theaters in Easton and Cambridge, MD offer free movies in the mornings, and for December, it's allllll the Christmas movies! Great treat for your little ones! They also offer free popcorn when you bring your own container on Tuesday (Cambridge) and Thursday(Easton) nights if there's a current movie out that you would like to see.
< strong>Call Rudolph<<<<<<<<<
driven in downtown Easton recently, you have probably seen Rudolph sitting proudly on the rooftops of the Talbot Towne Shopping Center. You can call him from a phone booth in front of the center during business hours (Monday-Saturday 10am-9pm, Sunday 10am-6pm) through December 24.
Visit with Santa & Mrs. Claus<<<<<<<<
Mrs Claus will be at Bullocks Deli in Denton, MD on December 9 from 4-7 pm. Unfortunately, we are skipping this this year due to scheduling conflicts, but if you are able to come out, I highly recommend coming to visit and grabbing some ice cream while you're there!
Christmas at the Culinary Center<<<<
rtunately, this event is sold out for 2017, but it’s an annual event that I am keeping in mind for us in the future when Drew is a little older. Activities include building your own gingerbread house and decorating cookies while enjoying some yummy hot chocolate and snacks while listening to some Christmas music. Be sure to like them on Facebookto stay up to date on their future events.
These are just a few of the great events happening locally. I’m sure that there are ton of things that I have missed. If you know of any, please share in the comments! I’d also love to hear from you if you have done or plan on doing any of these activities!
