Ice! Christmas Around the World

This past Sunday we continued our annual tradition with Kevin and Julie and headed to the Gaylord for Santa pics and to see Ice.  Normally we go late afternoon, but this time we went first thing Sunday morning.  Our Ice tickets were for 11:00, but I thought it might be good to get there early and see Santa first.  We saw that Santa arrived at 10:00, so we arrived around 9:30 and left the guys in line while Julie and I walked around with the kids.  I'm glad we got there when we did because even that early, there were still 3 or 4 families ahead of us.  Luckily Santa arrived on time and our kids couldn't wait to sit on his lap.  This was the first year that they both sat happily and smiled and talked his ear off telling them what they wanted for Christmas.   Em said she wanted a piano, a real microphone and a real life unicorn.  Hmm. .thinking someone might be disappointed come Christmas morning.  Evan just asked for a big bag of bouncy balls, some cookies, cake and candles.  Hmm. . .maybe we'll have 2 disappointed kids.  I thought we were making great time with Santa until we realized they were having trouble with the computers printing the pictures.  So we stood in another line waiting for them to start working.  Just when I thought we might have to leave and come back in order to make it to Ice, they started working.  After we paid for our ridiculously overpriced Santa pics, we headed over to meet the boys who we had sent over to stand at will call to get our Ice tickets.  In the end it all worked out and we got there with just a few minutes to spare before heading in.

Evan (3), Emily (6), Lauren (10), Natty (7)

Normally before you can go in to see Ice, you have to watch a movie showing the making of it.  This is the worst part. You're cramped in a room and then they release the whole room at once to make their way to get coats and go inside.  This year we totally lucked out!  The sound on the movie wasn't working, so we got to go straight in.  It worked out great because everyone was filtering in at different times, so it wasn't crazy packed inside.

This was Evan's first year to fully enjoy Ice and he kept saying how excited he was and how cool it was.  He kept laughing too and telling us his hands were freezing.  Seeing how much he enjoyed it made it so worth it.  As usual, the highlight for all the kids was the big ice slide.  This was Evan's first year to go down the biggest slide and he actually had to push himself along the way in order to make his way to the bottom.

Silly picture!

What?  That rope is supposed to keep you out?

This was our 3rd year in a row to go Ice.  I think we all decided after this year we are going to change up our tradition.  Even with their being a different theme each year, it does start to look the same.

After Ice, we all headed to brunch and then home for some much needed naps!