Elves. Gingerbread Cookies. Holiday Lights. Christmas story time. And even the big guy himself, Santa Claus. If those five things put a huge smile on your kid’s face, it’s time to plan a trip to Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, and book yourself a stay at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

I thought two was the perfect year for St. Nick and full Christmas magic to surround our family but boy was I wrong. Three year olds are with it- they have the longest memories, they get delighted at the simplest things, and they love, love, love all things Christmas and the Santa experience. Reindeers, the best. Making “the list”, so special. Somehow even Elsa and Olaf from Frozen get to have a bunch of fun with the holidays too. (Even though I was told many times by Augustine that Olaf loves SUMMER… but I digress)

We had three magical days at the Coeur d’Alene Resort in Northwest Idaho and now I’m not sure how to top it for our own Christmas celebrations at home.

We checked in mid-day on a Saturday, knowing that we had elves delivering gingerbread cookies to our room later that evening, we set out on a hike around Tubb’s Hill to burn off some of that kid energy so she wouldn’t be too excited and scare off the elves. This worked perfectly because when we got back to the room, Augustine fell asleep in her Santa jammies and slept almost until the Elves were supposed to arrive. By that point, nighttime was upon us and all the lights on the boat docks had been turned on, making the view of the lake shine and sparkle from our room. We turned the in-room fireplace on and it was so cozy as we slowly woke her up. She saw the lights immediately and rushed over to the large picture window to see all the different scenes. In addition to the 12 Days of Christmas song depicted in lights, there were also other holiday scenes set up. She loved calling out each scene to me and telling me what they were.

Then there was a knock at the door and she got really excited and then nervous. She had never met an Elf before- what were they going to be like? She had practiced what she was going to say to them and asked me to pick her up as we opened the door. Two elves, one in green and one in red, were standing there with a huge basket of cookies and milk. They asked if they could come in and Augustine could pick her favorite cookie and then tell them what was on her Christmas list and they would personally make sure Santa know what she wanted. She quickly replied- An Unicorn! A big one! A narwhal, stars, and a baby brother quickly followed. … oh, boy. We are in trouble!

After they left, Augustine told us over and over again how THE elves came to her hotel room and could they come again another day. We sat by the fire eating the gingerbread cookies and watching the boat cruises take off and come back over and over again. It was just so peaceful, merry and jolly.

The next day, we made sure to be around the lobby at 4:30pm for story time, again presented by two elves (one was the same from the cookie night) next to the big lobby fireplace and Augustine recognized one of the elves and told him again that she wanted an unicorn. It was adorable.

Afterwards, we walked over to Dockside for a Christmas Gooey, which this month was themed out for the Grinch, including mint chocolate chip ice cream, whipped cream, M&Ms, and a Grinch decorated cookie. If you haven’t seen this year’s Grinch movie, we highly suggest it. It’s perfect for little kids and makes the Grinch not seem so Grinchy. Augustine actually calls him the nice Grinch because we tried to watch Jim Carrey’s version and it scared her because he seemed so mean. Anyway- all this to say that while the resort had no idea Augustine was obsessed with The Grinch, it was so fun that it was themed that way.

We talked up the Gooey all day- to the point where about an hour before she said she missed the Gooey even though she hadn’t had one yet. It was too cute.

When it came out she dug right in and while she liked it, Bob was the real gooey lover of the family. I’m pretty sure he licked the huge ice cream bowl dry. (He even was made when I wouldn’t let him get another one the next day!)

Finally, we went on the much anticipated Journey to the North Pole Cruise on Lake Coeur d’Alene. With over 1.5 million lights, the light show is America’s largest on-the-water light display in America. The cruise starts off with a cute story, where we pass by The Grinch (so you know Augustine loved that- waving at him and telling me we needed to wait for him to get on the boat- heart of gold, that one) and then took off towards Santa’s workshop. We sipped on hot chocolate and made our way to the top deck to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. The cutest part about the whole thing for a parent was when Santa read off his “nice list” and each child who was on board’s name was called. Augustine jumped out of her seat when he called her name (even saying a few times as he was saying names, “When is he going to call my name- my name is Auggie”). There were songs and a tree lighting and then the whole thing ended with fireworks over the lake. It was definitely a really fun way to cap off our stay and end with Christmas cheer.

As we were snuggled in bed that night, Augustine whispered in my ear that she was on Santa’s nice list because she was so nice and she couldn’t wait to get her unicorn on Christmas morning. My heart probably grew three times right then. 🙂

Thanks to The Coeur d’Alene Resort for hosting us and for Visit Idaho for sponsoring our trip. All opinions and reactions of our three year old are totally our own and as authentic as a three year old can be. 😉 Thanks for supporting the brands that support our blog. Happy holidays!