Christmas Eve!

This year Zack has had an obsession with Busch Gardens. He loves that place so much that when we head to Williamsburg we can't take the short route because he can see the roller coasters from the road. Then of course we are stuck dealing with a heartbroken 3 year old who just wanted to go to Busch Gardens but can't because it's now closed for the season. Being a kid is so hard these days. Anyway, every year they do a thing called Christmastown where it pretty much gets transformed into a Christmastown. Lights are everywhere, Santa's workshop is open for visitors, and if you want to stand in line you can even visit some penguins behind a glass. It's actually very beautiful and fun. We really wanted to take Zack and this year we did. So for Christmas Eve we all got packed up and went to see Santa at work. When we got there I think an elf took the place of my husband because we even splurged on 3 tickets to Santa's Fireside Feast. Normally when we do Busch Gardens we get some yummy greased up fast food right afterwards. Nope not this time we were going to eat with Santa and have Cookies with Mrs. Claus. I have no idea where they find the time to entertain all those kids while getting ready to deliver gifts and hanging out in every mall in the country. They are for sure the best multitaskers I have ever seen.

We had a great time walking around and sipping on some hot cocoa. The whole park was filled with the sounds of Christmas music and they had some snow (bubbles) going as well. Right before out feast with Santa we even treated our train connoisseur (Zack) to a train ride around the park. At the dinner they had a huge buffet of child friendly foods like mac and cheese, hot dogs, mashed potatoes, turkey, mozzarella sticks and for the adults an amazing beef stew. Mrs. Claus walked around and visited with all the children, Santa's elves sold overpriced T-shirts and mugs, and Zack fell out of his chair. When St. Nick entered the room I'm not going to lie I think every kid felt the magic of his presence. He read "Twas The Night Before Christmas" by the fireplace. Then each kid could have a few minutes with him. This was the part that was just so adorable and my mommy hormones wanted to cry. Eli didn't get to meet the Claus this year as he slept through the whole thing but Zack was in complete awe of it all. He had a good 5 minute conversation with Santa and gave him a big hug before we left.

Leaving the park was even more magical. When we went in to eat it was light out but by the time we came out it was dark and the whole park was filled with lights. We got to see a bagpiper and Zack got his picture with some carolers. We left the park feeling full of Christmas spirit and ready to tackle present wrapping when we got home. Zack crashed out on the car ride home so putting him to bed was easy as pie. He got a bath and we read to him and as soon as I said "Santa won't come if you're awake" he was in bed and asleep. Steven and I wrapped all his gifts and exchanged ours then we finally were free to go to bed.....It was a great Christmas Eve and we will remember it forever.