Every year I always have big plans to keep my kids occupied & having fun on winter break. And every year is an abysmal fail on my part This year I was determined would be different. We went & saw the movie Sing~check! Then it was off to Target to pick up some craft projects. My 11 year old, Tanner, picked out a crystal growing kit. This was perfect for him as he is more of a science guy, who likes to spend his time watching animal videos & Mythbusters. The crystal kit allowed you to pick the color you wanted to grow & included everything you needed except gloves. I recommend buying a cheap pack of latex free gloves as the color solution will stain.
Shilah, my 8 year old daughter, and Evan, my 6 year old son chose to color & personalize piggy banks. It was pretty cute watching them work so hard on their projects & they were pretty proud of themselves when they were done! One of my determinations is to capture their everyday moments more often. These are the candid, memorable times that I want them to remember & take w/ them.
One of our favorite things we did over winter break was make homemade donuts!! This was so much fun & the kids had a blast!! They carefully helped me add all the ingredients in the bowl & were such a big help. Their favorite part was of course decorating & eating their creations & they decorated like busy little bees! We did attempt to make homemade glaze, though I will admit, it turned out pretty gross lol. We elected to have Daddy pick up icing at the store. Another option was dipping in melted butter & then in cinnamon sugar which was pretty delicious!
These images were all captured with my Canon 6D & a Tamron 24-70mm F/2.8 lens. My ISO was 800-2000, which at 2000, did get a little grainy, but sometimes you need to embrace the grain. Also for non-portrait everyday shots of my kids with indoor, overcast evening light, I think we did ok! Also ignore the doors off my cabinets lol. That is a project & post for another day!
All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful winter break. We ended it w/ a round of family sickness, all cuddled up on the couch together, watching movies & feeling yucky. Which is another reason I'm so glad we did some fun things & winter break, I can honestly say, was not a bust as usual!!