So, Garytt and I picked Justin up from work yesterday and headed out for a quick dinner and then over to the EAA Museum. As expected, it was a bit crowded, but we had a good time.
We started by taking a couple of pictures by the trees at the entrance.
This is the view just above the tree at the entrance.
We arrived around 5pm and Santa wasn't scheduled to arrive until about 6:30pm via helicopter. So, we explored the museum for a while. We visited the museum over the summer during the EAA Fly-In, but Garytt seemed much more intereted in the planes this time and was very excited!
A view of some of the planes from above.
Garytt looking down on the planes
Garytt did enjoy playing in front of a projector. He was very interested in the shadows.
Just beyond this discovery area was the KidVenture area. Garytt enjoyed getting into a minature plane, playing with the lift-up tabs, and pushing the buttons in the "control room".
We were surprisingly able to convince Garytt to leave the KidVenture area with relative ease. I think he was still excited about seeing more planes.
We decided to head over to the big hangar where there was a stage set up for various performances scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening. When we got there, a local dance studio was putting on a performance. We were actually able to get a pretty good view from the upper level.
I think Garytt enjoyed watching the show but he mostly enjoyed the music. He was all about shaking his grove thing while watching.
We then headed downstairs to the chocolate room. Let me just say, this might be the first time ever that I passed up such an opportunity to try free chocolate, which is saying a lot since I'm pregnant as well. But the chocolate room was so crowded and overwhelming, I just wanted to beeline out of there! I assume that the chocolate was good though. There were lots of local vendors giving out cake balls, cake, ice cream, and tons of other goodies. I did snag a bite size snickers on my way through (because they had the cheap candy in buckets in the center), but that was it for me and the chocolate room.
By that time, I noticed that people were starting to reserve their space in line for Santa. Santa was schedule to arrive by hellicopter at 6:30, which was in about a half an hour. So, I offered to go stand in line while Garytt and Justin wandered around to look at more planes. I thought it would be best to reserve a spot since I wasn't sure how late Garytt would really stay up and I didn't want to be waiting for Santa until 8pm!
Here is a view of the inflatable helicopter above Santa's chair and a plane nearby.
Unfortunately, by the time Santa did arrive, Garytt was pretty tired. I was a little surprised because he usually doesn't go to bed until about 7:30 but he had been so active all evening, he was getting pretty worn out. So, his experience with Santa didn't go quite as well as I had hoped.
Santa was very nice about the first tantrum of the night. He still gave Garytt a box of Jelly Belly's and wished him a Merry Christmas. Garytt even accepted the box of candy but still looked very unsure about the man in red. Maybe we will have better luck next year.
We decided it was time to head out after that. On the way to the door, we saw "Those Funny Little People" from America's Got Talent. So, we stopped to see them. Garytt was still in shock from Santa and wasn't too sure about these characters either. He wanted to watch them but wouldn't leave Justin's side.
We finally made it back up to the entrance when someone offered to take our picture as a family. Score! We rarely get pictures all together. It's nice that the boys match so well...too bad I didn't try to match. Garytt was pretty much done with the day though, so he's not really looking but I was thankful for the family photo nonetheless.
After we found our coats among the racks and racks of coats, Garytt had a complete breakdown over pretty much nothing...yup, definitely tired and time for bed!
Overall, I think Christmas in the Air was quite fun and totally worth going. I do wish Santa would arrive a little earlier so it didn't end up being such a late night for the little kids. (I know, I know he has a hectic schedule this time of year.) But we will definitely go back again next year!
No comments:
Post a Comment