k-strat: Christmas Town 2016!

We made it out to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens again this year! Every year I debate whether it's worth the expense, and every year I end up having to catch my breath when we first walk into the park. It really is a magical experience to see Busch Gardens all lit up at night for Christmas. This year, we planned our trip to coincide with our small group, so it was extra special.

We went to see Scrooge No More - the performance that tells the story of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It snowed inside at the end of that show, which kept the girls mesmerized. We also went to see Gloria - the show that tells the story of Jesus' birth. We went to sit down at the Festhaus in Germany during the Deck the Halls show, which is the show with all the fun, traditional Christmas songs (Frosty the snowman, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, etc.) and I loved every single one of the shows! Jane was a bit distracting during Gloria, but otherwise they were great.

Eleanor was very excited to ride all the rides as she hadn't ridden any since this past summer. Everything was new and exciting again, especially the fact that she was still tall enough to ride Grover's Alpine Express (she is in the fourth car back with Chris).

Grover from Katie Stratton on Vimeo.

Perhaps the more exciting thing for Chris and I was that Jane was walking now, which means she was able to ride some rides. She rode the 'Lil Clydesdales, Elmo's Spire, Oscar's Whirly Worms, and the Balloons.

Jane then got a bit tired and sat out some of the later rides, which honestly, she didn't like any rides to begin with so I'm sure she was fine with it.

Eleanor and her friend Hannah also insisted on riding the big adult battering ram/pirate ship ride, so I took them on that.

We took some family pictures.

And we even saw Santa (through the window) at the North Pole.

The new feature this year was a little place to see Rudolph. Eleanor walked through and got her picture taken with Rudolph and the Abominable Snowman.