Monday, December 12, 2011

Pensacola Elf Parade

Spending Thanksgiving week in Pensacola means that we always miss the fun Christmas parades and tree lightings back home, so this year I asked Karyn what fun things could we do around Pensacola.  She had never been, but had heard about this downtown Pensacola Elf Parade.  We now know that this simply means Santa and a few elves walk around a block and the kids walk with them.  But what we saw wasn't what was important.  What was important was spending fun quality time together as a family.  That we did.  We all went to dinner, then headed over to the parade.
 They had Frosty, Rudolph, and Santa for the kids to pose with.
 Of course Riley was the only one that would pose with the characters, but wasn't he cute?
Then they had SNOW!  Well Florida kind of snow (Soap Bubbles!)  The kids loved it!!

Alex loves her Papaw!
 Riley liked the view too, but his legs kept going to sleep. 
Afterward we wandered around downtown for a little bit and then stopped in a bakery for yummy cupcakes and hot chocolate.  Not what we expected, but a successful evening to say the least.


ICE!

Keller always gives us the whole week of Thanksgiving off.  This is fabulous because it gives us a whole week to spend in Pensacola with Randy's family.  This year Randy had to work Monday & Tuesday.  So Mom, Dad, & I took advantage of the weekday discount (with no school the next day) to see Ice!  at the Gaylord. 
This year's theme is Shrek the Halls, which by the way is Alex's favorite Christmas show.  We have literally watched it at least 5 times a week, since we dvr'd it the Sunday before Thanksgiving. So it was a could not miss!
Yes, when they say it is cold, they do mean COLD!  We were all bundled up in our hats, mittens, heavy coats, plus their ICE provided coats and were still cold.  But the kids really enjoyed it.
3 little donkeys! I mean 1 donkey and 2 sweet kids!

So amazing what they can do with ice & color!
Then toward the end they had a ice slide.  The adult line had a decent line so us adults only rode it once.  But the kid line (under 6) was a shorter slide and way shorter line.  So my 2 monkeys raced up and slid down the ice slide over and over.  They had so much fun.  I was really glad that we had not spent the extra $10 to ride the big snow hill just outside the exhibit.  My kids had a blast on the ice slide and it was included in the cost of the ICE exhibit.

It was a great evening. Afterward we wandered around and admired the beautiful Christmas decorations around the Gaylord.


 

As usual the kids were more interested in being goofy than actually posing. 
 And as usual the kids went from loving each other to trying to strangle each other in a matter of moments.  But isn't that what they tell me siblings is all about??