For a special treat at the end of the year, Grandma Cheryl took Calvin, Oliver, Tyler, Brynn and me to Silver Dollar City. We stayed at one of our favorite hotels, the Barrington.
Our first evening was relaxing with some pizza and swimming.
Grandma was brave enough to join the crazy kids in the hot tub.
Here we are! I've never been to SDC after Christmas, and I loved getting a little bit more of Christmas before the season is over.
Everyone bundled up on the shuttle, ready to start our day!
Unlike our trip at the beginning of the month that was very rainy, this day was just beautiful! A very crisp, clear winter day!
When we got in the park, we saw this family who was really in the Christmas spirit. I was giggling all day thinking about their matching candy-cane striped pants and snowman sweatshirts. I've already warned Russ that I'm looking on eBay for some ensembles in our sizes. . .
We missed the Rudolph light parade the first trip down because of the rain, but we wouldn't miss it this time! (Pictures to come. . .)
Look at our adorable gingerbread people!
We stopped for a moment to check out the beautiful nativity on display.
Although the day was beautiful, it was still a little too cold for some of the roller coasters to operate. The kids still found plenty of fun rides to ride, though, like this Electro Spin. Grandma Cheryl is such a trooper, riding all of the rides with her grandkids.
The kids insisted on riding the "froggies", Evelyn's favorite from earlier this month.
While the kids went to the Frosty show, I was excited to get to see "It's a Wonderful Life" -- this show has been at SDC the past few years, but it's a full hour long and I never thought the kids would want to sit through it. Mom was kind enough to take the kids to Frosty and a few rides while I enjoyed this musical.
The kids had fun running on the suspension bridge.
The park was pretty crowded, and we felt lucky to get to ride the sing-along steam train as the sun set.
A couple of train selfies with my boys. . .
Some pics from the train ride:
Loved hearing "Grandpa" tell the Christmas story one last time this season.
We found our spots for the parade and just continued to enjoy the beautiful lights all around us.
Some highlights from Rudolph's light parade:
Mrs. Claus was so friendly on her float!
The kids loved the cute little penguins!
And I loved the beautifully-lit train.
The final float was a gorgeous stained glass nativity.
Our final show for the day was the Living Nativity. We did our day in a different "order" than we usually do, and it allowed us to see parts of the park lit up that we hadn't seen before.
Isn't this so beautiful reflecting off the water?!?
Mom was excited that her favorite angel, Tony, was doing the final performance of the Nativity. Our Christmas is now complete!
Before leaving the park, we admired the HUGE tree one last time and enjoyed some amazing piano playing.
What a great day we had!
I know I've said this before, but I absolutely LOVE Silver Dollar City at Christmas. I'm so thankful that I got to kick off, as well as close out, the season here this year! Thanks, Grandma Cheryl, for a great time!
