Jack Frost Festival

Oh my goodness, we had an unbelievable day today! In the morning, we made crafts (snowmen luminaries and a cardboard Christmas tree which I'll post pictures of once they're finished and dried) and then decorated the tree. TJ is in love with decorations for every holiday and each time we drive past a single light on a house during Halloween or Christmastime, he shouts so loudly that I nearly drive off the road. That said, he was pumped up for decorating the tree today.  : )

We spent the afternoon at Coe Lake with Shane, Beth and little Anna. We saw Santa, made crafts, got free cocoa, chocolates, popcorn and reindeer food, watched amazing ice sculptures being made and listened to some fun music. Then after a grocery shopping trip, we were surprised to see CC for a little while!!!!

I broiled cheeseburgers for dinner and then we headed to the Jack Frost Festival downtown Berea. I wish I had gotten pictures of it but didn't even take my camera because I knew they wouldn't do the beauty of it justice. Everthing was lit up, they had cookies and cocoa for everyone (for free!) and also a merry-go-round and ferris wheel for kids. Again, not buying tickets or spending more money made it even that much more special! It was really crowded and busy, but happily so. I love it when it's "good crowded". TJ loves people and always wants to know who is going to be wherever we are going. We met Brian, Liz, Madeline and little Brian there and also ran in to my brother, my sister-in-law and baby Reagan.

The parade was fun to watch and we hopped from place to place. As we waited for the ferris wheel, we heard the countdown and then watched overhead as a line of sparkling fireworks went off from the top of a building and slid down the line to light up the tree. It was amazing in itself...and was followed by a more gorgeous display of fireworks than we saw on the Fourth of July. They were straight overhead which, I admit, did freak me out a bit. But it was really cool too! We were JUST about up to the ferris wheel when the fireworks started and TJ put the brakes on at that point. We were glad to not have him on the ride during the fireworks...but he hopped on afterward. He went up tentatively, smiled as he got buckled in next to Madeline, and then proceeded to shark-mouth cry the rest of the time. We didn't blame him one bit...I don't think you'd catch Tim or me on a ferris wheel in a million years, but he wanted to go so badly that we had to let him try. TJ gutted it out bigtime and clung to Tim like an octopus when he got off. He was proud of himself for finishing the ride (mostly because he didn't have a choice once he was on it) and I loved that little proud look on his face.

We got home and had some snacks before bed, then read Christmas stories and went to sleep. I love this time of year. But I'm also glad it only comes once a year. I'm beat! G'nite y'all!