As Thanksgiving approaches, families get excited about so many of their annual traditions. From the fabulous feast, to activities, shopping and decor… we share ways families celebrate and maybe you’ll even find a new tradition to adopt.
TRADITION: THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE
From Tom the Turkey to Santaland Express, Minnie Mouse to Tiptoe, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with its floats and balloons is a traditional way to wake up on the holiday morning. Whether you create a hot cocoa station in your cozy family matching pjs, wear a crossbody bag on a walk or add a little bling for a get together, Macy’s Parade Shop is a curated section that has so many parade-inspired trends from this year’s big event.
We always love family matching so this year’s Disney X Macy’s Balloon Pajama Sets are a highlight. Not only are they so soft and cozy, they capture the fun of the parade and Minnie Mouse debut too! We also couldn’t get enough of the Disney X Macy’s including Stoney Clover Lane crossbody bags, pouches and patches. Plus Bauble Bar brings the bling with cheerleader key chains, earrings, bracelets, blankets and more. To round out home decor, The Heritage Collection is perfect for any entertaining and the Disney Balloon Windows XL Mug provides plenty of room for hot chocolate or your favorite holiday beverage.
Once you get all geared up head to Macy’s Parade site to check out the balloon, float and entertainment lineup and map our the parade route too!
TRADITION: HOSTING AND BAKING
Every family has the one must have-dish or recipe passed down through the years that becomes a staple for Thanksgiving dinner. Absolutely bake or make the favorite but carve out quality time to spend with family and a less time in the kitchen, this year why not have Lazy Dog Restaurants help with your holiday meal? Their Everything but the Turkey includes four housemate family-style sides that can serve up to six people. serving up to six people. It includes Creamy Mac + Cheese, Red-Skinned Mashed Potatoes, Parmesan-Herb Sweet Corn Stuffing and Balsamic-Glazed Roasted Brussels Sprouts, plus Housemade Garlic Thyme Gravy. It comes complete with easy instructions for heating at home. Guests can preorder from November 6 to November 25 for pickup on November 26 or November 27, just in time for Thanksgiving.
As you bounce around family members and friend’s homes, help your kids think a little deeper about the blessing of Christmas and understand what it means to help others and serve… thanks to Houses for the Holidays, it can be a fun and delicious lesson. Lazy Dog Restaurants which are all over, have DIY Gingerbread House kits where you not only build a tasty house, but also helps build a physical house for someone in need through Habitat for Humanity. Kits are only $7.50 and 100% of net proceeds go toward building homes in the community.
TRADITION: HOLIDAY SHOPPING
Between Black Friday, Cyber Monday and all the holiday deals that have already begun… holiday shopping is in full swing. And this holiday season, there is a LEGO®️ gift for everyone on your list across
ages, budgets and interests.
LEGO Insiders Weekend is taking place this weekend! In addition to double Insiders points on all purchases, LEGO Insiders have access to exclusive gifts with purchases and membership rewards. Through LEGO play, build fun new holiday traditions with those you love while cultivating togetherness and limitless creative possibility.
This year’s Black Friday set is the LEGO®️ Ideas Endurance. All who purchase the set between November 29 and December 2 will receive a Gift with Purchase: a Shackleton’s Lifeboat build with two included minifigures. Be on the lookout for more deals as Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach!
Our families love building on our Winter Village Collections and this year LEGO®️ Icons Santa’s Post Office and LEGO®️ Santa’s Sleigh are a must! We absolutely love all the details like the hot-air balloon (and its burner that actually illuminates!), a letter sorter chute where you can use a lever to deliver letters to green or red sorting carts, and ice-fishing scene to name a few.
If you’re up for a little adventure this holiday season be sure to pick up LEGO®️ Friends Adventure Camp Cozy Cabins. This playset comes with camping accessories including a set of mountain bikes,
mugs, a campfire and toy ingredients to toast marshmallows and make s’mores. Or thrill a young space fan with the futuristic LEGO®️ CITY Interstellar Spaceship toy playset for kids. This spaceship building set, including an astronaut minifigure will set up fun for outer space missions!
TRADITION: HOLIDAY FAMILY ACTIVITY
Most families have the tradition of a holiday activity that has become a tradition from riding the Polar Express to Breakfast with Santa. One of our family’s favorite traditions is going to see the Nutcracker Ballet. This year, why not support local youth? Scripps Performing Arts Academy will be performing a full length youth performance. From the sugar plum fairies to Clara and the Rat King battle, we love watching the talented dancers bring the Nutcracker story to life. And if you have an aspiring dancer in your family, it is a great performance to bring them to because they can watch peers their own age perform and be inspired to potentially take a class and be a part of the performance next year! It takes place December 13 and 14 at 6:00pm and December 14 & 15 at 2:00pm at the David & Dorthea Garfield Theatre in La Jolla. For tickets and more information, visit: ScrippsBallet.com/Academy
With two locations in San Diego — Carmel Valley and Scripps Ranch — and both spots have classes for children through adults, Scripps Performing Arts Academy has ballet, musical theatre, other forms of dance and of course the annual Nutcracker shows. We love Scripps Performing Arts Academy because they inspire learning from the inside out, rather than trying to motivate students from the outside in. Utilizing age appropriate costumes and choreography, they produce beautiful and meaningful dance and musical theatre productions in lieu of dance competitions and recitals.
