Girl Scouts and the Christmas Parade

Last year, our Girl Scout troop marched in the Fletcher Christmas parade. We didn't have a lot of prep time so it was just our girls wearing their vests with Santa hats on, walking down the street. After last year, the parents  / leaders decided we were going to do better this year.

The parade has a theme every year and the theme this year was "Christmas in Candyland". We started working on it over a month ago. The girls were involved in every step - from planning to creating. But of course, us parents had to do quite a bit as well.

The main focal point of our float was our Gingerbread house. I was really sick with a migraine the day they put it together so I sent Todd in my place. He ended up being a much better help than I was because he used his engineer's mind and designed the house. I heard praises from the other parents about it afterwards!

Last Friday we put everything together and put it on the float. The girls crafted jingle bell bracelets while us parents did the heavy lifting, as it where. The float ended up looking great!
Saturday was the parade and it was an extremely cold day. I put several layers on Emily and myself in order to stay as warm as possible. We got everyone we could on the float, including my kid. Some kids walked and a couple road in the back of the truck. Some switched out in the middle of the parade.

The girls looked cute with their gingerbread aprons which thankfully could be worn over coats. They handed out candy, jingled bells and waved to the crowd who had braved the cold.

It turned out very well! I think for our first float it was awesome. And the girls had a lot of fun with the whole process!

Three Nights of Santa!

The end of last week was a Santa-paloza for Emily and I. We had three events over the course of three days that all involved the man in red!

On Thursday, it was the Fletcher Tree Lighting at Fletcher Park. It was freezing out so we got in line to meet Santa right away. The line was long, but thankfully one of Emily's best friends and her family got in line right in front of us. That helped pass the time.

Because it was so cold out, all we pretty much did was meet Santa and consume cookies and cocoa. We left to the warmth of our car after that.

On Friday, it was Cookies and Cocoa with Santa at Emily's school. We actually got there a bit before it started because I wanted to get an actual parking space. Sadly the school's lot isn't big enough for

events like this and I didn't want to have to park in the grass.

We got inside a few minutes before it started. We went to see some friends of Emily and I's (Girl Scout moms and their kids) who were selling things. I got a rice bag (which works really good!) and Emily got a hair tie from one of them.

As soon as Santa got there, we got in line. We were the 2nd group in line and I wanted to do it early because I knew the line would get long. After we met Santa, we went to the holiday shop the school had set up. Emily proceeded to spend the rest of her money on stuff she 'needed'. We also met Elsa, who is actually one of my friends and a fellow Girl Scout troop leader.

Most of the rest of the time we were there, we were hanging out with our friends. One of the moms had to leave early because of a sick kid so I volunteered to help watch the table. Emily mostly just hung out and played with her friends, which she loved. It was a good evening!

The next day, I actually woke up feeling pretty sick with a migraine. So Todd took Emily to help with

building a gingerbread house for her Girl Scout troop's float for the Christmas parade. Once they got home, I had gotten up and got dressed so we could go to the Biltmore Park tree lighting.

Usually the Biltmore Park tree lighting is at night and they start with the lighting of the tree. This year, the event went from 1 pm to 5:30 pm and the tree lighting was at the end. We got there about 3 pm and went right to meet Santa. In years past, Santa had been joined by Mrs. Claus but he was solo this year.

The line wasn't long and Emily met the 3rd Santa who she says is the real one. From there, we wandered around. We got cocoa and went from booth to booth. Emily did science experiments, got to make a 3D ornament (that will be printed out on a 3rd printer!), got cookies and even got to decorate a cookie! It was a lot of fun especially since it was on a Saturday so Todd could come with us. Our Santa days had come to an end though - at least for this year.

Of all the events, I liked the Biltmore Park one the best. Lots to do with lots of entertainment. I think that is the one that Emily liked best too but Cookies and Cocoa with Santa would be a close 2nd for her because she got to play with her friends for several hours.

WalkMS 2016

Image: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/

Easter being early this year has thrown everything off for me this year. To the point that I completely forgot that the WalkMS 5K was this Sunday. I "walked" last year - meaning I did the fundraising but the day of the walk it was storming really bad out that they canceled the actual walk.

This year the forecast looks much better so I should be able to walk this year. And I'm looking to it because I was really disappointed that I didn't get to walk last year.

Todd was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few years ago and it was very scary for all of us. Todd actually changed his whole diet and that helped a lot. Right now, he's not having any issues in regards to his MS but they will most certainly change as he ages.

Todd's aunt and my cousin Gary also have MS. So I have a lot of reasons to walk for this cause! I'd love to see a cure for this.

If you'd like to donate, here's my link. If you feel so moved you can also share this post as well. And if you are local and want to come cheer me on, the walk is at Fletcher Community Park on Sunday at 2 pm. The Wellness Fair starts at 1 pm. The fair was really great last year and I got a lot of cool stuff as well as information both for Todd and things that could be applied to my own issues as well.

Fletcher Family Festival

Last Saturday, our local park had a festival. It was in honor of the town of Fletcher's 25th birthday. Since I had seen that they were going to have bounce houses and games, I decided to take Emily.

We got there right at 4:30, and Emily bee lined to the bounce houses. She loves to bounce and go down the big slide. We did go to the games after a while, and she liked getting treats and little prizes.

They had treats of snow cones and popcorn for free. And they had some tents with locals vendors / organizations. Emily got to play lacrosse and we got more goodies. I had luckily thought to bring a big bag with me to stash all our stuff in.

There was a booth that a church had setup and they had a drawing for several prize packs. I signed up and shockingly, I got a call after the bounce houses and games were done that I had won one!

Emily were still at the park because she wanted to see the fireworks. The prize pack we got was perfect for her - it had play dough, coloring book, crayons, a game and a ball. We listened to the live music and played with the ball until it was time for the fireworks to start.

Even though we went to Disney World last year, Emily got tuckered out well before the fireworks started. The only fireworks I saw were at the Halloween party I went to by myself. 

She was nervous because she knew it was going to be loud but she was excited too. I had to hold my hands on her ears through most the show, but she loved it. It was pretty good and it was fun to see the mountains as a backdrop for the fireworks.

It was a great time and hopefully they will do it again next year!

Fletcher Tree Lighting Ceremony

We live in a fairly small town that is between Hendersonville and Asheville called Fletcher. Not much is here but we do have a park that’s about five minutes from our house. The Fletcher Parks and Rec department does several activities throughout the year, like the Halloween Carnival we went to in October. I got an email a few days ago about a tree lighting they were having and decided to take Emily to it.

The event started at 6 pm so it was already dark out. Earlier that day I had gotten Emily some glow sticks and she had fun waving them around as we walked to the ceremony site. She told me on the way that she wanted to help light the tree and I told her that probably wouldn’t happen.

We had brought some can goods for the drive they were having so we dropped those off first. Then we got some hot cocoa and cookies to munch on while we listened to some kids singing. Once the singing was done, the mayor came up and said a few words.

Then it was time for the tree lighting and they asked for a child to help the mayor light the tree. I told Emily to raise her hand if she wanted to do it. She raised her hand and waved and she got picked! She was brought up on stage and asked her name, and then she helped the mayor turn the tree on.

I was a bit bummed because my flash wasn’t working great on my phone so I didn’t get a picture or video of it. And she was blocked by a pole when she was actually turning the tree on. We did get approached by a reporter asking Emily’s name and age. The only news article I’ve found this morning online doesn’t mention her though.

After the tree was lit, all the kids were invited on stage to hear Twas The Night Before Christmas. The kids were pretty good until they saw Santa arrive behind the stage near the end of the story. Emily got off the stage once the story was done and I got a quick picture of her by the tree she had lit. Then we got in line for Santa.

Emily waited very patiently for Santa, running around a bit but staying close to me. It took a while but finally it was her turn to meet Santa Claus. She went right up to him, sat on his lap and told him that she wanted a My Little Pony toy. She got her candy cane and we head off since the event was winding down.

We both had a good time. Luckily, the rain had held off until later that evening and it was pretty warm out too. Emily told me when we were on the way to the car that she told me that she was going to get to light the tree – and she had been right!