Tis the Season for Texas Christmas Fun

We got our Christmas buzz on this weekend when we headed up to the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, the self-proclaimed "Christmas Capital" of Texas. I'll take their word for it given there are tens of thousands of towns in Texas and I really don't feel like trying to substantiate the claim.

The weekend had very much a Christmas feel to it as a cold front blew in on Saturday morning and there was a biting wind all day that made it feel like it was in the 20s with the wind chill. I'm sure all of our friends in the midwest and northeast yawn at that one but hey, we've been in Texas for eight years now, our tolerance for cold weather stops when the temperature drops below 50.

After the requisite picture in front of a really big Christmas tree in the town square, the kids turned their attention to Frosty.After tormenting Frosty, a Santa Claus on stilts and an elf, we took a carriage ride for more small town Christmas fun.
After being outside for more than 30 minutes, we determined that we were far colder than we should have been (at least Tricia and I were, the children were of course unphased by it all) and we headed over to the Gaylord (insert "Meet the Parents" movie reference here) Texan Hotel for an indoor winter wonderland. I looked long and hard at every Target in the great Austin area for this decoration and could not find it, apparently it's one of a kind.

We thought we could warm up by going inside but that typically doesn't happen when you decide to check out ice sculpture exhibits. For some reason, 9 degrees is the magic number to keep ice from melting indoors. I'm guessing with all those cooling units working 24/7 to keep the million-plus pounds of ice frozen, achieving carbon-neutrality is a bit challenging for the hotel.

Amen!

We got back in time on Sunday to enjoy the neighborhood holiday party. Unfortunately our HOA couldn't secure one of those cool throne-like chairs the mall Santas get to sit in all day. The park bench was the best we could offer. I'm pretty sure we ended up with a non-union Santa as a result.

Chandler pondered her numerous requests and Clancy and crew figured there was strength in numbers.
While the weekend had its challenges - seven plus hours in the car, a restless night's sleep at the hotel, some lengthy waits and the typical angst that results from our kids spending lots of time around each other, it was a fun time and I wouldn't hesistate to do it again!