December 13, 2008 was a very busy Saturday for us. Our first stop was that Manitou Springs Christmas Parade. Manitou is about 25 minutes away from us, and is quite a quaint little town. (See last summer's post from when Jenny and the boys and I went there to learn a little more about the town.)
The whole event was perfect! We left the house a little late, worried we might not be able to find parking, and arrived just in time...and parking was as easy to find as anywhere. It was probably easier for us to find parking there than it would have been at the department store. The parade goes down the main street of town, turns around on a side street loop, and goes back down main street! We thought it was a little odd at first, but how else would the parade get back to their starting point?
The parade was just long enough to feel like you had a parade, but short enough that the kids weren't getting antsy. It was at noon, very do-able for us, and warmer than the Estes parade that is at night! The boys didn't take long to catch on to the candy throwing - and that mom was going to let them eat it right away, too! We thoroughly enjoyed it, and plan to go again!
Here are the 3 boys watching the parade.
After the parade was over the 1st time, we walked up the street a little bit, window shopping, and stopped to watch the parade again as it returned. The boys were learning lots during the parade: candy, old fashioned fire engine, crotch rockets, harleys, the different sounds those 2 make, etc.. It was fun, and educational, too! Here is Jim.
Eric, looking happy and staying warm.
Michael, taking it all in.
After the parade, by the town clock, there is a vist from Santa. He was a very cool, authentic, Santa. I think he was the real Santa there that day, not one of his helpers who come to help Santa see the kids and get messages to him!
Right by Santa they had cider and cookies. They were home-made cookies, too, you could tell they weren't just store-bought. Impressive little town gathering!
Kate, who slept through it all, trying to stay warm in her eskimo outfit.
After the parade we went to get our Christmas tree. Oh, the debate about a tree: real or artificial? Well, for $10 we got a permit to chop one down, so we went real. What adventures for us, choosing our own Christmas tree for the first time and chopping it down too!
Here are the boys with Smokey the bear, where we got our permit. As we had the boys stand by Smokey, I realized that they probably had no clue who he was. The list of things we know that the kids don't continues to grow....and so does the list of things they know about that I'm clueless about. But, thats another blog... here they are!
We went up the road into the national forest and started to find our tree. Kate was in her sling, which I was wearing trying to keep her warm and happy so I could take pictures. It was one of those times we probably needed another adult around, but oh well. Such is life with 3. We had a good time. Here are the boys, searching (Michael is through the trees up ahead).
It wasn't long before the boys lost interest in looking and wanted to play in the snow instead. Here is Eric trying to climb a tree (which had grown sideways).
Another picture of Eric and the tree. I like the look of the light coming into this one.
Michael, wandering off into the woods.
Jim said, "that's a good picture of me, you should put it on the blog!" This is how the majority of the pictures of him look if he knows I'm taking them.
We finally found the tree! Eric really wanted to chop it down, and I was impressed with Jim's patience as he helped Eric learn about how to saw the tree down.
Dragging it up and out! What a handsome, muscly man I am married to!
We had to take "the picture" I always see of families after they chop a tree, so here it is!
What a quaint day! It made me feel like we were like one of those families you read about in the magazines: chopping a tree after the parade, cookies, and a visit with Santa. I guess if I had cooked dinner myself it would have been really magazine worthy, but we had such a fun day! It was so nice to have Jim home on a day we could go and do it all, and in pretty good weather! Merry Christmas, everyone!
