Santa's Wonderland 2013

On Sunday December 8th we made plans with all of our family to have dinner at our house and then go to Santa's Wonderland.  Many of us had purchased discount tickets on Groupon and were hoping to put them to good use as a fun holiday activity.  We included all 4 grandparents, all of Bryan's siblings and our brother and sister in law's parents as well.  We were looking forward to a big group!  Unfortunately the weather in the days leading up to our planned trip was really rough.  The forecasted high was below 40 degrees for Sunday and it was supposed to be wet.  Considering the weather and cold/flu season, both baby Zach and baby Charlotte needed to stay home.  Our group dwindled down to our family of 4 plus both sets of grandparents. 

We arrived at Santa's Wonderland by 6pm only to find the traffic on the feeder backed up to the overpass.  When we finally inched our way up to one of the employees he told us the parking lot was full.  Our only option was to park on the dark feeder road (not safe!) or turn around and go park at our local HEB and be shuttled over on the Santa buses.  We back tracked and went back to HEB to get on the shuttle.

Once we arrived it was crowded so we headed straight for the hay ride line.  They quickly split the line into two and started a new rotation of trailers to accommodate the crowd.  Although we did stand in line for awhile, the boys handled the wait well.  The ratio o f 6 adults to 2 kids works pretty well :)

Standing in line waiting for the hay ride

 

Caleb was obviously in an interesting mood based on his facial expressions in the photos above :)

By the time we got on the hayride Joshua was fading.  He couldn't decide if he wanted to sit, lay down or put his head on my shoulder.  He was fighting sleep but so exhausted.  He did enjoy the lights, and Caleb especially liked some light-columns that he declared to be 'smoke stacks' -- one of his favorite things.  

It was cold but we managed to stay warm!

By the end of the hayride Joshua was being treated like a prince- fully reclined, swaddled in a fleece blanket, with his head supported by my Mom.  Ha!

After our hay ride we got some snacks - S'mores, hot cocoa, fudge, kettle corn - and enjoyed the atmosphere.  By that point it was well past bedtime on a school night for Caleb so we called it a night and headed back to the Santa bus to shuttle us back to HEB.  

We had a great time taking the boys to Santa's Wonderland this year and are so thankful we could share the experience with their grandparents!  Thank you for making the drive to College Station to enjoy it with us!