Come On It's Lovely Weather for a Sleigh Ride Together With You!

We left Jen's house on Friday, December 16, and ventured into the city for the last night of sleigh rides. We parked in the garage because Shawn was too nervous to parallel park my minivan. Then we walked to the spot where the rides started. The line didn't look that long, but we didn't realize that there was only one carriage ride going around. How annoying! I would hope that the city would run it better in future years. So, we got in line, and Shawn took the older boys to play in the gazebo with some of the kids, look around at the Christmas lights and even walk across the street to wear Santa was sitting in the lobby of the Marriott.

Each kid was given a candy cane after telling him once again what they wanted for Christmas. Daddy explained that Santa had left the mall area and was now here. We've seen a lot of Santa this year! But, the idea was to keep the boys occupied. :) There were other kids in front of us that began to sing Christmas carols. What a great idea! We sang Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, and other Christmas songs as a crowd. Over an hour passed - each ride was 10 minutes long, and the carriage wasn't all that big. So, the seemingly non-existent line still took forever to move.

Little Ryan was getting hungry. What to do? I asked Shawn, and he said we would be ripping off the older kids who had waited so patiently if we left then. So, we stayed. Finally, it was our turn! We got a picture of our family of five before hopping on the ride. :) She took two for good measure. While it was REALLY cold that night, we were huddled behind a building up until the point we got on the ride, so we weren't freezing until we got on. Luckily they had heavy blankets to snuggle in.

Caleb wanted to sit with his friend Daddy. :) I LOVE that my husband is adventurous. He told me that he would check it out for me. I've always wanted to do a sleigh ride, so I was glad he was willing to go. Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up, let's go! Just look at the (non-existent) snow! Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, it's grand - just holding your hand! We're riding along to the song in a wintery wonder-land!

Our cheeks are nice and rosy, and comfy cozy are we...we're snuggled close together like two birds of a feather should be! Just take the road before us and sing a chorus or two...come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!

Joshua sat with me, and I held baby Ryan, who should have been sleeping but refused to lay his head down. The Bean LOVED it! He was SO excited, and he sang jingle bells just like in preschool. :) :) :) We were dashing through the (no) snow, in a (two)-horse open sleigh! The horses really did have bells that jingled on them. And city-dwellers waved to us on every street we went down. It was fun. :) :) :)

Here's our family of five on our own little carriage ride. I LOVED it! I love making new memories with the family. :)