Day Two of our Blog Challenge!! Yay!! I absolutely love this topic! Family is number one to me, I know so many people say that but I literally want to hang out and be with my family all of the time! My husband and I have talked about wanting to move out of our city but after having our daughter there was no way we could take her away from her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and all! We want her close with her family too! We have friends that we would consider family because of nights that brought us closer! Here are a few ideas to build a closer bond with your family and friends:

Play Games – This is our favorite thing to do with our family and friends! The very first time I met my in laws, we played card games! They STILL to this day give me a hard time about beating my MIL at UNO that night! We still have game nights with our family and we have couple game nights with friends! It’s such a perfect way to throw in a little competition, laugh, and really get to know each other over a laid back setting! I’ve laughed the hardest in my life at Game Nights! We have some of our best friends because of Game Nights!!

Watch Movies – While there isn’t as much talking and getting to know each other, I still love movie nights! Cuddling up, sharing popcorn, laughing and crying together! I don’t do scary movies though! I wouldn’t sleep for weeks!!!! Movie Nights were most of the first dates my husband and I had! He’d come over after work and we’d just stay up all night watching movies and talking to get to know each other! You can learn a lot about a person from what movies they like and how they relate to them!

Baking – Some of my favorite memories growing up are in the kitchen with my grandmother baking! It makes me so excited for Penelope to grow so I can have her sitting up on the counter, stirring the flour to make cookies!! For Christmas we decorate cookies together, I’ve gotten to help my sister in law bake and we’ve had deep conversations over icing cookies! Get messy and make memories!! Added bonus: you get a snack at the end!!

Make a Craft – This is something you can do whether it’s with someone young or old, it’ll last as long as the memories do if not longer! This can even be done on a very small budget and with things you find around the house!! Make a craft for a holiday or just because! You can make crafts to learn something or be silly! I’ve even had craft nights with friends to make DIY decorations for our little one’s birthday parties! We have lots of craft ideas on our Pinterest page if you’d like to check it out!

Now for some out of the box things, something you aren’t going to read everywhere else!!

Escape Room – This is a place we’ve seen in multiple areas where they lock you in a room and you have to find clues and figure them out with your group of friends to escape!! Nothing brings you closer than being put under pressure and locked in a room! 😉

Road Trip/Day Trip – While this isn’t an everyday thing, it is fun to pack up and go explore another city together! Getting to jam out to music on the road and the long conversations! Having someone navigate an unknown city, and deal with traffic, and hiccups, and crowds of people! BUT you also get to do things you’ve never done before, eat new foods, try new places, make incredible memories!!

Do a photoshoot together – 2 of my best friends and I are talking about doing a fun photoshoot together! Get in front of the camera and laugh and be silly and have fun! Capture our friendship together! It’s one thing to just snap a quick selfie and another to get a professional photographer and get all dressed up and go have fun!

Take a Class – Go learn something new together! Wether it’s an art class or a self defense class, get out of your comfort zone!

I hope you can grow a closer bond with your family and friends with some of these ideas! They are a few of our favorites!!

What are some out of the box things you like to do with your family?

Until Next Time,

B