Weekend fun: A visit to Christmas Town

We had a fun FILLED weekend. To repeat the words of my hubby "if there ever was a need for a 3-day weekend, this past weekend definitely qualifies!"

A friend of mine mentioned the Busch Gardens Christmas Town event earlier in November. J & I decided it would be a good idea to go. JOE is loving all things Christmas right now and it is always so fun to see the world through the eyes of a child.

On Friday evening, our neighbor held their 3rd annual Christmas party. We were invited and we attended because we love our neighbors and feel so lucky to live in a community where everyone looks out for each other.

On Saturday, bright and early, we packed up and started our long drive to Williamsburg, VA. Hubby was the designated driver while I sat in the back to entertain JOE. Truth be told, that's often where I sit because it is just so much easier to get her what she needs instead of trying to twist and turn backwards.

Anyways, here's my very yummy hubby driving. This was JOE's first real road trip. We had one last year but it didn't really count since she was still very little. For this trip, she was VERY alert.

And here we are...the back seat drivers. And by that, I mean back seat drivers! If we stop at a red light, JOE can be heard saying "dadda, moooooove" or "faster faster!!!"

Coming along on our road trip was the Doc McStuffins family. Yes, we were all cramped back there because JOE just had to have everyone with her.

A long 4-hours later, we arrived. But we weren't immediately booked into our room because we were an hour early. As you can see from the lobby, there was hardly anyone there but I guess they must have a policy about getting in the rooms early? Either ways, we decided to just relax and JOE enjoyed running around the lobby.

And touching things :-)

Then she settled down long enough to watch the iPAD. They finally decided at 2:54pm to get us check in. A whopping 5-minutes early! SMH. I should bash the hotel but J and I have had great service at their other locations so I won't let one not so great experience ruin it.

After we settled into our rooms, we freshened up and headed to Christmas Town!

The town was definitely all decked out. It all looked very beautiful. 

We waited in line in the cold for 2-hours for JOE to get a picture with Santa. I feel like I visited more public restrooms than necessary during this time. Think it was for me the pregnant woman? Then you'd be wrong. JOE just had to "go pee momma!" I mean, I love that she is potty trained but Lord help me! Cleaning the seats, putting her on there, cleaning her up, taking her off, repeating it 30-45 minutes later. YIKES!!!

Anyways, we finally made it into the area to see Santa and our first greeter was the elf Peppermint. She was so sweet but JOE wasn't sure of what to make of her hence the face.

Then there is JOE sending her Christmas wish list. I hope Santa got her list. She really really would like all of the items on there :-).

And here is Santa's workshop. JOE wanted to take items from there. Had to explain to her that they were props for kids to play with not presents for her :-).

And then we got to see Santa! Here's my baby with the man himself. She did so good. Didn't cry and actually gave a couple of smiles.

Here she is checking him out to see if he was for real.

And this is a picture of a picture of all of us. 

And one of just JOE with Santa.

Then we got to see Gloria. It was one of the shows playing there. The great thing about this place is that once you're in, there are no additional costs except for food and other gift items. Those are pricey but that's just how things are at Theme parks. JOE loved the show! She kept clapping and at one point, she closed her eyes and was swaying to the music. It was just so cute.

Sorry for the blurry pic. This was at the end of the evening. J got a cup of hot chocolate. Which was yummy considering how cold it was!

And here we are at the end of the evening. All still smiling. JOE had such a great time. When we walked out, she looked up to her dad and I and said "thank you sooooo much dadda and momma!" That totally made it all worth it. I love this beautiful, polite girl of ours. She really is the best!

To top off the weekend, we headed to J's parent's for Christmas dinner last night. We had an awesome time and my mother in law made a very yummy dinner. JOE made out like a bandit with her presents. J & I also got very generous gifts from them and we feel so blessed.

Hope you had an awesome week. I am looking forward to a shorter work week. YAY!!!