I'm Nicole. I am a wife, mother, shop owner on Mackinac Island, and lover of handmade. The little things and little moments inspire me. Follow me on my blog as I write about shop news, my travels, island life and motherhood.
Nicole
xo.
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little luxuries
We love every season in our home, but winter is especially fun because we have a lot more time together just as a family, without having to be in the shops every day!
We have written out a Winter Bucket List of things that the boys want to do this season! It’s fun to see them get excited about getting outside or doing a project inside. Here’s our list:
- Sledding at the Winter Sports Park in Petoskey. The Winter Sports Park is a fun afternoon activity! They have a sledding hill, ice skating rink and even a spot to get hot chocolate and warm up!
- Skiing at Boyne Highland’s or Nub’s Nob in Harbor Springs. While the boys are learning to ski, I’ll hit the cross country trails! They have great classes for the kids to start out with and they have a lot of fun learning to pizza down the hills! Watch out, in a few seasons we may have some awesome skiers in the family!
- When the boys want a day of water sports, we load up the car and hit the Avalanche Bay Waterpark at Boyne Mountain. This is a fun spot for kids of all ages - and it is fun for the parents too! It’s nice to escape the cold winter for a day and splash around inside!
- The boys are at the age where they all love being outside, so we love to try to take Winter Hikes as often as possible! Michigan has so many great spots for hiking year-round. One of our favorite spots is the Petoskey State Park, which has winter accessible trails, which lead down to the waterfront! The boys love to see the water starting to freeze on Lake Michigan!
- When the boys are ready to stay inside for a little while (after playing outside all day long!) they love a mug of hot chocolate and making a winter craft! The old art project of making a snow flake out of a coffee filter never gets old!
- Last night, the boys wanted to write a letter to their very best friend, so they all pulled out the art supplies to mail him a sweet card! I love snail mail and I’m so glad that my boys love it too - I hope they never outgrow that sweet spirit of having a pen pal.
It’s so fun as the boys are getting older to see what they enjoy to do when they aren’t at school! Along with playing legos for hours upon hours, this is their winter bucket list! What’s on your winter bucket list for 2020?
Merry Christmas to you and your families!
December is a whirlwind of events and emotions for our family as I'm sure it is the same to many others. There seems to be something planned every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas! For our family, we have added in Louie's birthday and our wedding anniversary into the mix. We have definitely made the already hectic month a busier one! But there's so much to love about December!
Once the week of Christmas arrives, I start to naturally reflect on the past year and look ahead to the coming year. Being a seasonal business, it takes a lot of self-motivation to stay on track with ordering and planning for the new season. With three little boys in the mix it makes it even a little more tricky!
This coming season, we are on the hunt for new store managers and retail associates. If you are interested or know of anyone that might be interested, please send an email to Nicole at littleluxuries.mackisland@yahoo.com
The weekend before Christmas we celebrate with my family at my parent's house. My two older brothers live in my hometown still as well. My parents have always made sure Christmas is extra special, even at age 34. My mom is fabulous in the kitchen! She still fills everyone's stockings up with the most unique goodies and spoils us with too many great gifts. My dad always has the video camera and is in the background smiling at everyone :)
The last few years we spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Petoskey at home. It's easier with the arrival of Santa and just nice to be at home. I have started the tradition of making homemade pizza on Christmas Eve, crepes for breakfast Christmas morning and a nice dinner later in the day (this year we had beef tenderloin and Andrew did an amazing job preparing and cooking it!).
We then spend the remainder of the holiday week on Mackinac Island. The shops are open for holiday guests and locals and it's a fun, festive time on Mackinac. If you're on Mackinac this next week, come say hello! I may be with our boys out and about or in the shop!
I hope you have a memorable holiday relaxing and enjoying all the little things.
All the best,
Nicole
xo.
