Christmas Before Thanksgiving

Last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, my office closed early. With my parents in town, I thought it would be fun to mash in as much holiday stuff as we could. So Mike, Dylan and my parents were to pick me up at closing time and we were going to head down to a local chain furniture store, Jordan's, to see the Enchanted Village. It's a Boston tradition going back decades and was recently "saved" (purchased) but this furniture store and restored for public viewing again.

The exhibit is old timey store fronts and scenes with moving statues showing holiday fun. Mike and I first took Dylan to see it last year. Well, we happened to be shopping in that area of the particular store a little over a month ago and Dylan pointed to the back (where the entrance to the village was) and said "go see Santa." There were no Christmas decorations to be seen or other indications of the Enchanted Village so we were a bit awestruck that he remembered going there over a year ago. That child's memory is stunning! I let him know that Santa wasn't there yet but we would come back and see him when he was. Staying true to my promise, it was first on our holiday to do list.

About an hour before we were supposed to meet up and go down there, I called my OB's office to just talk to them about a pregnancy symptom I was experiencing that I didn't have in my first pregnancy. I figured it would weigh on my mind during the holidays and I might as well call to get confirmation that it was fine. Unfortunately, that call prompted a trip into the doctor, followed by a non-stress test. The gang met me at the hospital instead and we all got to listen to the baby's heartbeat and kicking about while I was hooked up to the monitors for 20 minutes. All was fine. So just an hour after our planned departure, we were on the road. The delay ended up being a good thing. One for piece of mind and two because the horrible traffic that was on the road when I was heading into the doctor's had cleared up.

I had no idea if the place would be a mob scene or dead, but we were in luck - no line and no crowds! We got there, took our green screen group picture and headed into the exhibit.

Dylan loved looking at all the details of the scene, as did Mike, my parents and I. They also created the occasional "snow" with a bubble machine, but Dylan didn't really know what to think of that. I thought it was cool!

Ice Cream Shop

A Horse on the Street

Lots of Dogs and Cats at the Pet Store

What I got when I asked for a smile. What a goof!

SANTA!!

Post Office

The Bear Scene at the Front of the Furniture Store

As we drove back to our neck of the woods, we talked with Dylan about everything we had seen at the Enchanted Village. He's repeated that list in the last few days as well. Definitely a fun time for him. With our bellies rumbling, I took my parents somewhere for a real treat - New England Mexican food! Just what every Texan wants to experience. The food at the restaurant isn't spectacular (surprise, surprise), but it's a family friendly place and close to home so it worked out great for us.

I'm really glad we got to start off the holiday season with such a positive experience. The Enchanted Village is definitely a must do on our holiday activity list for future years. Once we were home from dinner, it was time to start more holiday "fun"......Thanksgiving preparations! We were hosting and there was much to be done to get ready for Thursday.