Just like everything else this year, Parade of Lights looked a little different. Since crowds couldn’t gather to watch the parade, the organizers decided to stage the floats downtown for a couple of weeks so everyone would have a chance to walk by and enjoy at their leisure. I thought it was pretty fun to get the chance to see the floats up close. The kids not so much. Too much walking for them!

The Hyatt club and pool were closed due to Covid restrictions. And, as that is the best part of the Hyatt, we opted for an Airbnb instead. It was a cute little place right near Union Station. I’m glad we did that. We didn’t have to worry as much about masks and whatnot. BUT….we had to recreate the club atmosphere. And that meant FOOD. Lots and lots of FOOD. We started off with the traditional snack mix and then went to explore the roof of the apartment building. The views were not too shabby!

Now on to dinner! We had cheeseboard, taco dip, meatballs, mozzarella sticks, egg rolls, soda, and all kinds of other finger foods. We were stuffed! The weather was BEAUTIFUL for our walk around downtown. We didn’t really even need hats or gloves.

This year I loved Union Station the best. The building was lit up with all kinds of Christmas scenes. My favorite was the gingerbread house. I made the kids wait until it circled back around to get a picture and they were none too happy about that.

Other scenes from our walk:

The Mile High Tree was on the 16th Street Mall this year instead of behind the Buell. And I’m pretty sure we were all a mile high when we left from the contact high. It was intense. Luke was very sad that we didn’t go inside the tree this year. The line was soooo long.

Back to the airbnb for dessert! Hot cocoa, cookies, mini drumstick cones, brownies, mini cheesecakes–we did not want for sweets. Then we played a few rounds of the name game and mafia. After watching The Grinch, it was lights out. There was much dispute over who would sleep in the bunkbeds. These three won out after Luke fell asleep on the couch during the movie.

The next morning after acai bowls and Trader Joes chocolate croissants we were excited to go get our traditional picture at the tree at the Hyatt. We were so disappointed to see that they didn’t even put up the tree this year! It was a ghost town. Which was really sad to see. Usually after the Parade of Lights and the giant White Christmas ball they usually host that same Saturday that place is HOPPING on Sunday morning with everyone checking out. Today, we were the only ones there. AND, to add insult to injury, not only was there no tree, but the escalators weren’t even running! The big kids usually run all the way from the top floor to the bottom. We thought we were going to be so sneaky–usually you have to have a room key to use the elevator, but there is one floor that has a lounge that you can get to without a key. They were going to start there. And guess what? Lounge was closed, so the elevator didn’t even go to that floor. Covid ruins everything! Here we are at the spot where the tree should be.

We improvised and had a blast playing on this arch. Rusty said he’d pay $1 to any kid who could get up and over without using their hands. They tried and tried and couldn’t do it. Sarah gave it a go and got right over. After the kids saw her do it, they weren’t far behind. Josh was the first kid to make it over.

It was time to go home, but the fun didn’t stop there! We can back to our house to play VR, introduce the kids to the Candy Bar game, and watch the Christmas devotional. Even though it wasn’t quite the same, I think the weekend was a huge success!