It's been a crazy few weeks at our house, but we officially celebrated Sadie & Sophie's birthdays and Bryan & Sophie survived being quarantined. Sophie got to go back to school for 2 days before winter break & then we had the best news - we were able to reschedule their birthday party! When we had to cancel it, I was afraid there wouldn't be another opening, but somehow the stars aligned & there were 2 cancellations this past Friday night so I scrambled & was able to reschedule everything:
For months I was trying to come up with an idea where we could still celebrate the girls, but due to covid, I wanted to do it outside which is always risky in the winter, so then I thought of a way to celebrate in holiday style - a carriage ride! There is an awesome neighborhood in Plano that is known for their Christmas lights & they run carriages through there on a nightly basis all month long:
We lucked out with the weather because the night we were originally supposed to have it, it never got out of the 30's & it rained all day. We probably would have had to cancel it anyway! But this past weekend was in the high 40's/low 50's with a clear sky. We got there early & met Bryan's parents to set up a hot chocolate bar in the back of Bryan's car:
Bryan & Robert passed out the hot chocolate while Sherry & I welcomed everyone & passed out Christmas light up necklaces. Originally, I had reserved 2 parade wagons that seat 20 to go at the same time, so Sadie could have a wagon with her friends & Sophie could be on the other. When re-scheduled, we had to book them back to back, so we invited Sophie's friends first & in true 2020 fashion, the carriage was an hour late. And I am not exaggerating. Thank goodness the girls ran around, played, drank hot cocoa & were easily entertained:
Finally the carriage & wagon arrived:
I had imagined taking a really good picture of the girls with the horses but they were so late & I was so scrambled, we all just hopped on. I did pack goodie bags for the ride so every girl got a water bottle, a candy cane, a napkin with a Christmas cookie:
The younger girls were a little more reserved, but I think they had fun:
Originally my parents were going to come but they couldn't make it when we rescheduled but my sister drove up with Zoe & that was a huge surprise for the girls! They had no idea:
Bryan & Robert stayed behind while I rode the carriage with my sister & my mother in law. Unfortunately, everyone was showing up for Sadie's ride just as we were leaving for the first ride, so Bryan kept the hot chocolate flowing while the next set of girls played. Finally it was time for the big girls ride:
Sadie invited her entire soccer team & a few friends from school so I kept calling them the Renegades Crew:
And a few Renegade siblings:
But their favorite guest of honor might have been their cousin Zoe who got to ride the carriage twice with them:
The second carriage was definitely more rowdy. They sang the entire time & it was a lot of fun. We had the best time & couldn't have had spent a better time celebrating the girls, their birthday & the Christmas season:
On a side note, their favorite gift just might be these incredibly large squishmallows their friends surprised them with when we got off the carriage:
Hopefully next year we will be able to celebrate without the threat of covid or another quarantine!
No comments:
Post a Comment