Do you have any special holiday traditions?
We have several holiday traditions. Some are small, some are a bit more important. Some are even a bit silly. Take for exampled Malted Milk Balls. When I was younger and I didn’t have much money for gifts I used to buy my dad a box of Malted Milk Balls for Christmas as a gift. It was his favorite treat. Even as I got older and had money to buy actual gifts, my dad always appreciated a box of Malted Milk Balls. So every Christmas I would buy him a box.
Another holiday tradition we have is going on out Christmas Eve and check out all the holiday decorations. As we drive around the neighborhoods we’d give out “awards” for titles like “Most Beautiful,” “Most Creative,” “Tackiest,” and so forth. They were not real awards. It was just something that my family would come up with as we were driving around.
Here is something you might want to consider if you have a child or grandchild – get them a new ornament every year for the holiday. My mom started that when I was a little girl. She’d gift me a personalized ornament every year (with the year on it) so that when I moved out and I had my own Christmas tree I had plenty of ornaments to decorate it with.
Mom started doing that for my kids. After she passed away my husband and I continued it (although not all of their are personalized or have the year on them). This year both of my kids got a personalized snowman that lights up and changes colors.
We also have a special key that we put on the outside of our condo door on Christmas Eve before we go to bed. Since we live in a condo and we don’t have a chimney, Santa needs some way of getting inside to deliver gifts. Even though our kids are teenagers (our daughter will be 20!), and haven’t believed in many years, we still hang the key outside the door on Christmas Eve. It’s a family tradition.
Going back to my dad. He had a tradition he did with the grandchildren. It started with my nephew and eventually all the grandchildren were a part of it.
Each year my father would buy my nephew the Hess Toy Truck that came available around Thanksgiving. My nephew has a wonderful collection of Hess trucks. When my kids were born my dad did the same thing for them as well as my niece. It didn’t matter if they were boys or girls – all the kids enjoyed the Hess Toy Trucks. All the kid knew they would get one on Christmas morning.
When my dad passed away we didn’t want to let that tradition die with him, so my husband and I took over buying our kids a Hess Toy Truck for Christmas.
When our daughter got older she didn’t have a need for them anymore, but our son likes to collect them, so we would buy a new truck for him. It’s a way to honor the memory of my dad every holiday season.
Dad would have loved the 2016 Hess Toy Truck.
This year the Hess Toy Truck features a Dragster. It’s sold exclusively at www.HessToyTruck.com for $31.99 with free standard shipping and five Energizer® batteries included.
Thank goodness that it come with batteries because as soon as you take it out of the box you’ll want to play with it.
The 2016 Truck features LED lights, a slide-out ramp, and 4 realistic sounds including a race starting countdown. The dragster’s innovative weight-transfer design and pull-back friction motor enable launch in either a flat or wheelie position. Together, the duo features green accents, sleek chrome styling, and more than 50 brilliant lights.
Here is a brief video that I took of the one we have. It’s not easy to press buttons and video at the same time. I think I missed a button.
The sounds are very realistic and the volume is pretty loud too (as you can tell from the video).
There are plenty of lights on both vehicles. On the truck you can choose from stationary lights or flashing lights.
Once again, Hess Toy Truck did not disappoint. This is an awesome truck that any child – or collector – will enjoy.
If you would like to purchase the truck for your collection or as a gift, www.HessToyTruck.com. On the site you can also check out Hess Toy Trucks from previous years.
The brand is also found on social media. All of their links are found on the bottom right of their website.
Kimberly
*I received a free sample to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.