This Jolly Old Guy

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I have so many Christmas-y things I want to do before Christmas.

I don't know how I'm going to fit them all in.

This past weekend, the City of Henderson had their first annual Winterfest on Water Street:
  

When I was a kid, my parents used to take me to Santa's village there to see him and get my picture taken.

When I heard there was going to be a Christmas light parade, we were definitely in.

After a day full of Christmas shopping (almost done...yessss!), we got all bundled up and headed down to Water Street. My mom, her friend Debbie, and Kasie and Jeremy met up with us to enjoy the festivities.

When we first arrived, there were carolers singing Christmas songs on the lawn. It was so pretty and made me feel all warm and Christmas-y inside:


As we walked down the street filled with all kinds of people wearing Santa hats, light-up hats, and reindeer antlers, it felt like a small town gathering. I wanted to go up to everyone I saw and ask them how they were doing and tell them 'Merry Christmas'.

We found out that we were right in front of Santa and booked it to get in line. To our surprise, the parade was about to start, so there was hardly a line at all.

Grace wasn't too fond of Santa. Last year, she loved him. This year she knows that strangers are bad (probably a good thing) and didn't want to get too close. Not going to lie, I totally expected this and couldn't wait to get that picture of her screaming on his lap that everyone has from when they were little. Grace wouldn't go near his lap, so Isaac and I jumped in the picture too.

I'll give you a little play-by-play of our encounter:

Watching Santa from a distance - totally interested

Freaking Out

Trying to hide in Daddy's coat

Begging us to leave

The poor kid wasn't having it. The pictures turned out perfect. I find it so amusing that Santa Claus is supposed to be this jolly old guy that brings everyone toys and gifts, yet little kids are always so freaked out by him. They even have a contest at our mall for the best unhappy Santa picture.
We'll be sure to hit that contest up this week.

Thank goodness the light parade was about to start. Grace absolutely loved that. We got a great spot right in front, and she just sat in her stroller admiring all of the floats:







As the bands would go by, she would dance to the beat of the drums. I think they were her favorite.

Kasie and I made M&M Bars on Friday night, so Kas brought some to the festival. We didn't think they turned out so great, but Grace loved them:


During the parade, one of the floats passed out candy canes. Grace realllly liked them:




After the parade, we hung out at Santa's house:


Then we went out for a bite to eat at Coyotes. Kasie told Grace to strike a pose so she could take a picture.  This is what the little ham came up with:


I hope all of you are enjoying this holiday season as much as we are!!

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