Christmas Fun in College Station

So, every year that we've had kids (all of three), we have wanted to do some of the local Christmas activities here in Bryan/College Station. But, we tend to get caught up with traveling and other to-do's and just haven't gotten to them. I realize that our kids won't remember them much now, but it's for me and Vic to share with them and remember. So, this past weekend we did lots of things here in town.

Friday night, when Vic got home, we loaded up the family and headed to the Traditions Club in Bryan to see the Guinness Book Record Holder Gingerbread House that was supposed to be the largest one every built. It should have been super cool - a house made of gingerbread and candy? But..it was a total bust. First, it is like 31 degrees with just enough wind to make it cold. I had us all bundled up, but it was just cold! We got out, made our way up to buy our tickets and while doing that, noticed that it was covered in plastic. Vic mentioned that it must be because of the weather (possible snow/ice/sleet) and that maybe they wanted to protect the outside of it as much as possible. No big deal though - it would still be fun to see the inside. We get our tickets ($8 total) and they offer us some gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate. Of course, Atticus wants a cookie and since it's free- no problem. So, we grab it and start to leave and they say "That will be $2 for the cookies." Oops - so we awkwardly gave them our two dollars and headed towards the house. We walk inside and see...wood. It is just wood on the inside. No candy - no gingerbread. Just plywood or 2x4's or whatever. Wood. There is a little Christmas tree and train in the corner and some pictures of gingerbread men that kids have colored on the walls. There is Santa Claus, but you have to pay $10 to take a picture with your own camera or buy one from them. We are sort of confused and wondering if we are supposed to be impressed. We slowly realize that this is it. The gingerbread part that is so exciting is on the outside...covered in plastic. It was kind of funny but kind of irritating. I mean - we were the ones that brought out two little ones to see this in the cold, wintry weather. But they could have at least put something on the website or not charged us or something! But, it's no big deal and we head out laughing. They have a little train going around and we decide that we should at least ride it with Atticus. Well, first of all - it cost another $5. And Grace wasn't enjoying the cold windy weather. So, Atticus and Vic headed to get their tickets and Grace and I headed to the car. They rode the train, came back freezing, loaded up and we all headed to eat some tacos for dinner. In the end, it was hilarious! But, we tried to quickly tell others we knew not to waste their time. The good thing is that it all went to charity, but that is not something we will ever look into doing again!

The next day, I ran up to the Brazos Center for the Christmas craft show and then that afternoon, we met our photographer at the MSC on campus for family pictures. We already had to move them from outside in downtown Bryan - too cold! It was about 36 degrees about 4pm that afternoon. We took our family pictures and then decided to try out Christmas at the Creek at Wolf Pen Creek. Honestly - had the weather not been so cold and ending the evening with light sleet/rain, I can see this being an awesome event! The weather really was fine - not windy and Wolf Pen Creek offers lots of areas to block the wind. We walked up (by the way - everything here is mostly free!) and they gave Atticus and Grace some little Christmas toys. We walked on in and everything is lit up and the stage has some entertainment happening. Across the entire wolf pen area, there is a giant bouncy house type of slide, a train, some shopping and eating vendors, a synthetic ice rink, a Live Nativity, a place to create Christmas crafts, a giant movie shown, etc. You can bring chairs or blankets and your own food or drink. Oh and of course, there is a petting zoo. The petting zoo is really what we went to see. Prior to pictures at the MSC, we decided that if Atticus behaved, we would reward him with the petting zoo. His love for animals trumps everything in life, so this was the perfect reward. The only problem was that at the park, all of the events were so spread out, it took us forever to walk and find the petting zoo. Plus, the weather was getting more windy and wet and because of that, some of the events were not happening. We FINALLY found the petting zoo and Atticus was so cute looking at the goats and the camel and kangaroo and zebra and sheep. He loved them as always and was so good telling each of them "bye" when it was time to go. I would have felt so terrible if it had not been there due to weather because this little boy loves his animals! And Grace was just as well behaved as always. I put her in her snowbunny suit and wrapped blankets around her in the stroller. She was snug as a bug and toasty warm! Anyways, it was a good attempt although in the future we will just know that unless the weather is ideal, it may not be something we want to do. We went home and Vic made some delicious Shrimp Etoufee to warm our tummies while we watched Frosty the Snowman. It was still a fun family outing!

Finally, on Sunday, after Church, we attended the BCS Christmas Parade. We went with our friends, Chris and Katherine and our friends Russell and Sarah with their kids Austin (3) and Aubrey (9 months). We stood on University Drive right on campus and watched the parade go by. It was so much fun! It wasn't too terribly cold or windy and Austin and Atticus really got into waving and looking at the floats and getting candy! The funny thing was that most people gave out candy canes. Atticus tried one and decided he didn't like it, but Vic loves candy canes and truly stockpiled Atticus' loot for himself! Grace mostly hung out in Katherine's arms totally content. Then, after the parade, we all headed to a new restaurant on Northgate called Blackwater Draw that brews it's on beer. We ate dinner, all 10 of us, and visited and had the BEST time! It was a perfect ending to a really fun weekend!