I moved my family to Florida years ago. Celebrating Christmas in the sunny state has been filled with surprises.

We quickly learned that if we wanted to see any kind of snow in December, we had to head to a Central Florida theme park, where the faux soap snow (aka "snoap") falls in full force.

Those places use machines that turn liquid soap into "snowflakes" to mimic snow sans the freezing temperatures.

We've since seen snoap everywhere, from Disney World to local events in my small Florida beach town.

It feels just like the real thing to me now, only much less cold.

Florida, especially Central Florida where I live, is the land of theme parks.

The parks in our area go above and beyond to create events that get my family into the festive spirit, even if it's too hot to wear our ugly Christmas sweaters to them.

Places like Disney World and Universal Orlando throw holiday parties and host ticketed seasonal events all winter long.

Some years, it truly doesn't feel like Christmas until I've watched Universal's holiday parade while sweating with a crowd of people.

I live about 30 minutes from Cocoa Beach, Florida, home of famed surfer Kelly Slater and the historic Cocoa Beach Pier.

Since 2009, Cocoa Beach has held a Surfing Santas event on Christmas Eve, where surfers come in costume and entertain onlookers by catching waves.

Other towns in the area also do similar events, including my own small beach town.

One of our favorite holiday traditions is going out on our friends' boat to watch our town's annual lighted boat parade.

These parades happen all over Florida and boat owners deck their vessels out in everything from Christmas lights to Santa inflatables while blasting holiday music.

The state's warm weather allows us to be on the water together, enjoying the views up close.

We've taken many of our holiday-card photos on the beach in the past few years. Usually, we throw on Christmas pajamas and ugly sweaters, too.

Are we bragging to our friends back home about our sunny winters? Just a little bit — but it's one of the ways Floridians celebrate the season.

From T.J. Maxx to HomeGoods, home-decor stores here sell a wide array of distinctly Floridian Christmas decor with a beachy twist.

Here, we decorate our homes with mermaids wearing holly wreaths around their necks and Santas who prefer flip-flops over boots.

Because the weather is warm and balmy in Florida in December, there are many beautiful outdoor displays to walk through.

We often visit botanical gardens in our area, including the McKee Botanical Garden, which decorates its grounds beautifully with holiday figurines and stunning lights.

It's surreal to walk through tropical gardens wearing sandals — among palm trees adorned with colorful lights — instead of layering up in coats and scarves to go outside in the winter.

Since it's a little cooler by the water, one of our favorite ways to celebrate the holidays is by hosting a beach bonfire for our friends.

It'd be too cold for bonfires on beaches up north, but the weather is just perfect for them in Florida.

We usually put on holiday sweaters and sip hot cocoa, make s'mores, and listen to Christmas music.