Continuing the Journey

The Grinch Lightens Up a Bit...

Saturday night -- after having dinner with our friends Scott and Sarah, and Jamie and Nikki, and all their kids (which was a bit of a birthday celebration for me, complete with a cake!) -- we headed to a local water park for their annual Holiday Fest. We met up with Tim and Wendy and their kids...we were quite a large group! In an effort to be less Grinchy, Daddy decided to wear our Santa hat...but he called it his Grinch hat all night!

It was FREEZING cold Saturday night, complete with bitter winds, sleet, and snow -- NOT my cup of tea, if you know me at all! I'm an indoor gal...put me on a couch with a blanket, near a fireplace, and I'm in my own version of heaven! But for the sake of the kids and the potential for creating awesome memories, I sucked it up.

Here is a picture of me and Grinchy -- I mean, Daddy -- as the outdoor portion of the evening began...
...but I wasn't really smiling in that picture...my mouth was frozen into that position! (Just kidding...sort of...)

We very quickly found a small log cabin type building right by the entrance, and who do you think we found inside?
Santa! Carson had absolutely NO fear, hopping right up onto his lap and asking him all sorts of questions. ("What's your name?" is a current Carson favorite...even though he rarely remembers anyone's name.) Without any prompting from us, he knew exactly what to do. He kept telling Santa over and over, "I want a Batman." Santa ho-ho-ho'd for him and Carson just kept repeating it..."I want a Batman"...he wanted to be sure Santa heard him loud and clear!
How cute was THAT picture?!

We headed over to take a peek at the reindeer in the barn next to Santa's log cabin, but then Carson headed right back to Santa...
That boy wasn't taking ANY chances. He wanted to be sure Santa remembered his face and didn't forget that Batman! So cute!!

All day, to prepare Carson for where we were going, I kept telling him we were going out to play in the snow. (How does one describe a Holiday Fest to a child who has little understanding of Christmas anyway?) Well, he thought "play in the snow" meant "throw snowballs every chance you get"...
...and we could barely walk three feet, only to find Carson digging in the snow again! What a goof! It was so cold and wet, we ducked into a building to warm up a bit...
...and Abbey and Meggie tried to steal all the warm air coming out of the heaters!

We headed back outside after a few minutes...
...and that boy was digging in the snow AGAIN!!

We decided we needed a diversion to get Carson out of the snow banks...and found a merry-go-round.
Hmmmm, I wonder if Daddy realized he put Carson on a pink horse?!

Hey, Teenagers, are you having fun on Freezing Cold Family Night?!
Looks like a "yes" to me!

There were many animals to pet and feed. Here, Carson and Brendan are looking at the horse...
...right before we headed into the barn to get closer to the animals.
Carson kept yelling, "Horsey, I have a sa-pwize for you!"
...but changed his mind quickly when the horse got up close and personal!

Just about this point, Meggie and I had had enough. We were cold, my earmuffs wouldn't stay on my head (they ended up in a garbage can before we headed home), and Meggie's immobilizing "boot" was soaked from walking in the snow.
But look at us making the best of it! We're such troopers!!

Our last stop was at the pony ride. Check out Cowboy Carson...
...looking a bit worried! After his short (and over-priced) pony ride, we decided it was time to go...we were frozen and wet and looking forward to warming up with "hot chock-it and marsh-ellows" at home!

See, Grinchy -- I mean, Daddy -- that wasn't so bad, was it?!