Christmas Parade

Denny, Olivia, Jack and I went to our first Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Christmas Parade yesterday! Our friends, The Lewis', go every year and when she told me about it I thought, what a fun tradition! With some guidance from Stacy (and a reminder from Allison), we decided to stay at The Magnolia Hotel the night before since it is right next to the Adolphus and obviously on the parade route! It made things so much easier the morning of the parade! I am really SO glad Stacy shared this tradition with us because it was so much fun!!! As we drove into downtown Denny and I were remarking on how we never leave our bubble of the Plano/Frisco area and it's sad because there is a big, wide world out there and we just never think of exploring anything outside of our bubble. We felt like we were in another country or something. It has been so long since I've been to downtown Dallas!

I will say the check-in process was not perfect. We couldn't get in front of the hotel to valet because there were so many people also wanting to check in so, after circling the block, we self-parked at a garage down the street. Sounds simple, but when you've got a pre-schooler, a baby, a pack-and-play, 4 camping chairs, and all of our bags, it was quite humorous watching us waddle down the block and into the hotel!

The Nelson's also decided to join in on the fun and were there as well. So after we were all checked in (in neighboring rooms no less), we headed out to dinner.

On our way, we ran into Santa in the lobby! Olivia was being a little shy and would not sit with Santa, or stand by him, by herself. So we both got to tell him what we wanted for Christmas! :) Olivia's big wish list item this year is Emily from the American Girl collection.

Allison and sweet baby Beck, Jack's BFF!

The Lewis Girls

The hotel had milk and cookies for the kids, so of course, we had to partake! Olivia never turns down a dessert!

After milk and cookies we called it a night and went up to bed! The next morning we were up early and the guys went to set our chairs out to ensure us good seats for the parade. They did great, we were the 2nd row right outside the hotel! The Magnolia also had a great breakfast buffet, so we chowed down, then bundled up and went to our seats!

Here is our little Jack all bundled up and having fun, well, enjoying himself at least!

Olivia was so excited to see what was coming next in the parade!

I love this picture! Jack looks so scared! At the time a marching band was going by and he did not know what to make of them! Hard to believe that he actually slept through most of the parade!

My sweet girl!

And a few of her favorites...

My Little Pony's Pinkie Pie

Rudolph

And last but not least, Santa!

It really was so much fun and something we will look forward to doing every year! I highly recommend it to anyone who lives in the area with kids! What a great way to kick off the holidays!