"BOOM!"

Tonight we attempted our first MAJOR crowded venue with two kids...which means we pushed our gigantoid stroller through the overcrowded streets of downtown Cape Coral for the "Festival of Lights." We did have fun, but I am not a fan of crowds, especially when we're all packed in like sardines on tiny downtown streets. We experienced some firsts tonight as a little family...

Charis saw her first fireworks -- she wasn't a huge fan, but she didn't cry either. When they lit the huge Christmas tree, they did a big countdown, and shot off fireworks once we got to 0. It was really neat -- I've never been to a tree lighting ceremony like that before! Cayman talked about the fireworks going "BOOM!" for the rest of the evening.

Cayman enjoyed his first piece of hard candy (that I know about anyways...) -- a nice man sitting out in front of his store was passing out candy canes to the kids. This nice man also took a family picture of us sitting in and around a huge pink beach chair. Very Floridian.

We sat on a curb as a family for the first time ever and enjoyed McDonald's chicken nuggets (as you know, not a first for us...) The chicken nuggets are on sale right now so it worked out with our budget! :)

For the first time ever, we walked past 5 bounce houses and NOT ONCE did Cayman ask to get out of the stroller so he could go bounce.

We looked at Santa through a white picket fence. Some friends of ours were taking pictures of families with Santa. We opted out of waiting in the long line for a picture with Santa. Cayman likes Santa from a distance, but the last time we saw Santa (Cayman's first time) Santa had to sneak up behind us while Cayman wasn't looking to get in the picture. (Speaking of which...Natalia, if you're reading this, do you still have that picture on your computer?? Send it my way, would you?? Thanks! Haha!!)

It was a little chilly tonight - the kids actually got to wear jackets/sweaters for the first time. I needed a jacket....BUT I refused to put it on because I didn't want to ruin my cute new outfit! How vain....honest, but vain nonetheless!

Charis has started clapping. Tonight she copied Ian and me whenever we clapped for her. It was so cute! She also has started saying something that sounds like "bye bye," but it's more like "bye bye bye bye bye bye." So it doesn't necessarily mean "goodbye" yet! Baby steps!

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