Christmas in the Park

CC and I were out walking today, and we stumbled across a Christmas fair happening in the park. Not wanting Troy and my wife to miss it, we hurried home to get them. It was toward the end of the day, so most people had already gone and left. But we still got to enjoy everything.

The first thing Troy wanted to do was to pet the reindeer. They had two live reindeer, one happily munching on hay and the other acting like he was pulling a sleigh for a photo op. Troy was a little tentative at first to get near those beautiful, deadly antlers. But after I approached the reindeer with no fear and started petting him, then Troy had to do it too.

From there, we wandered through the booths selling their homemade goods and headed to the gazebo. And there standing next to the giant Christmas tree was a giant toy soldier on stilts! Up until this point, the tallest man Troy had ever seen was CC, but this guy would have towered over CC. Easily nine feet tall, Troy didn’t even come up to his “knees.” The toy soldier was juggling, but he was so clumsy that he kept dropping his props. Troy was quick to run over and pick them up for him, but every time he did, the juggler would drop another one.

After that, Troy wanted to ride the small train they had in the parking lot. He wouldn’t get on unless I got on too, so I folded myself in half and crammed my long legs into the little car. He seemed a little overwhelmed (or perhaps underwhelmed) by the experience, and he was content to get off the train as soon as it stopped. He much preferred to wave at the people riding on the train than to ride it himself.

It started to get dark, so we headed home. But we had to end the experience by running down the hill near the golf course, which Troy loved even when he lost his footing and fell. On a Christmas high, we headed home to enjoy some eggnog.