Daughter #3, her family and I attended a beautiful candle light service at their church. After church, we headed downtown. We knew it would be bustling and lines would probably be long, but, we were fine with that!
We started at our favorite restaurant and were told there was a 2 hour wait. Not exactly what we wanted to hear, but we were in for the long haul. The funny thing is that we almost always prefer eating outside...and, usually, so do many other people. But, there was just the slightest of mists coming down, so no one was outside. We decided to give it a go and were seated. Honestly, by the time the appetizers and wine arrived, it had stopped "misting" and was perfect. It got a little bit chilly as the night went on, but it IS Christmas time and that is what we wanted. We had a long dinner going from apps to dessert and enjoyed watching all of the hustle and bustle on the square.
As we left dinner, we decided to see what the wait would be for a carriage ride.This is usually a VERY long wait but, as if the heavens opened for us again (lol), if we were all there within 5 minutes, we could have the private carriage. And, to make it even better, the carriage and driver were from the horse farm where my grand daughter took riding lessons so she knew both the driver and the horse and we had the most wonderful trip all through town. This was definitely the high light of the evening for me as this ride has been a family tradition for many years and we missed it last year-which made me sad. I always hate to break tradition. I was as excited as the kids waiting for Santa.
The square is so beautifully decorated and it was full of families with multiple generations -little ones, parents, grand parents, family, friends and even fur babies. It was the perfect way to fill up on spirit at this time of year that can be stressful for many.
We did a bit of light watching as we drove through a few neighborhoods and then headed back to their house to make sure the reindeer food got out so Santa knew where to land his sleigh.
This was a bit of a bitter sweet moment as my grand daughter told me this was the last year they would be able to do this. I quickly asked why and she reminded me that she is in 5th grade. The reindeer food is usually made at the 5th grade Christmas field trip out to Camp Kiwanis and, as she would be in middle school school next year, there would be no one left to make the food. I did remind her that I actually have Santa's recipe for the special mixture but I think half the fun of it for her is the whole experience of making it at camp and then bringing it safely home...and in this case, keeping it away from your dogs so they don't find it and eat it-haha... so we shall see what next year brings.
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