The evening I got off work to begin the holiday break, I wrote a blog post detailing a few things I wanted to do over the next nine days. A couple of those items included binging a Netflix series with Sidney (check! We watched season two of “You”) and watching as much college football as possible (check! Watched more football in a week than I had in a couple years). But there was a third goal I outlined in the blog post that I feel I crushed more than the previous two…

Spend as much time with Sloan as possible.

With this objective, I wanted to especially get her out of the house. When it was all said and done, we had a very active break! I figured I would document what we did for tonight’s blog post.

Sidney, Sloan, and I kicked off the break by baking cookies. We cranked up the Christmas carols and let Sloan take point, only intervening when she started to eat too much cookie dough.

Sloan and Sid worked together to bake cookies just prior to Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, Sloan waited for Santa by hanging out with her cousin, Henry.

Henry and Sloan waited for Santa to come!

Sloan was completely overwhelmed (in a good way) on Christmas Day. She celebrated the holiday by enthusiastically ripping open gifts with a mile-wide smile.

This smile says it all, doesn’t it?

A Christmas gift Sloan received from Santa was a bike. Starting on Christmas afternoon and lasting throughout the rest of the break, Sloan and I would go outside in front of our house and ride it. She picked up on it fast!

Sloan got a lot of use out of her bike during the holiday break.

Throughout the time off, Sloan spent a lot of time with her best friend, Jacqueline. On December 26, Sloan and I went to Savannah’s Playground and met Jacqueline and her mom, Susannah. The temperature was in the mid-70s and the girls played hard.

Sloan and Jacqueline took advantage of beautiful weather by spending the morning at Savannah’s Playground.

We found ourselves at the mall a couple times so we balanced out our shopping/returning activities with time at the shopping center’s indoor playground and on the coin operated rides.

While adults swarmed Coastal Grand Mall like crazy people, Sloan took a more laid back approach.

With the weather holding for most of the break, we hit up more than one outdoor playground. I took Sloan to the Carolina Forest Playground where she ran around with Henry.

Sloan had a fun-filled time with Henry at the Carolina Forest Playground.

Sloan got her game on when Sidney and I took her to Dave and Buster’s for lunch and fun. She bounced around from game to game, staying true to her independent persona as she preferred to play with little help from her parents.

Sloan had a blast at Dave and Buster’s.

A special treat came Sloan’s way when she was invited to swim with Jacqueline at the Marriott’s indoor pool. The two girls paddled around the heated pool and ate snacks afterwards.

Sloan and Jacqueline swam at the Myrtle Beach Marriott pool.

One day during break I did a workout at the Coastal Carolina University track. I brought Sloan along and she showed me how it was done!

Sloan ran with me at the CCU track.

Sloan and Jacqueline got together once again when we met at Rockin’ Jump for a morning at the trampoline park. After they jumped their hearts out they did the obvious…eat snacks!

Sloan and Jacqueline concluded the holiday break by visiting the trampoline park.

Besides the activities listed above, we also filled our break with reading books, hanging out in the playroom, going to church, and spending time with her grandparents. To be honest, I almost didn’t feel bad sending Sloan back to daycare because we couldn’t have done anything else to make the break more fulfilling. We took advantage of every moment and made many memories to end 2019. I am so thankful for my little partner-in-crime. Don’t Blink.