Macy's Display & The Holidazzle Parade!

On Saturday we took the train down to see the Macy's display ("A Day in the Life of an Elf" - a repeat from last year), and the Holidazzle parade. We woke the boys from their nap and left the house at 3pm. We did not get back to our truck until 7:30pm. It took us 4 1/2 hours to do two twenty minutes activities! The amount of people downtown was CRAZY!!! The line to get into the Macy's display was three floors! We waited for over an hour! Then we waited in the cold for another 30 minutes for the parade to start. The parade lasted no longer than twenty minutes and then we were literally running to get a spot on the train to head back. We were front in line, and there was so many people I worried about being pushed onto the tracks. Once the train arrived, I held on to ET with all my might as we were literally pushed into the train. The train was so jam-packed with people there was not one inch of room to spare. At this point I looked at Jay and asked, "Do you think all this was worth it?" He replied, "You're asking ME?!" Ha!
It was worth it, but I just made a mental note to never go again on a Saturday. Luckily, both boys never fussed a bit. It was A LOT to expect of them to wait in all the lines and then wait more on the train ride home. The lady next to us had a toddler screaming the whole way home, and I felt my heart break for her. We got back to the truck at 7:30pm. None of us had eaten dinner, so we headed over to the 5-8 club, where we had to wait even longer for a table. We finally made it home around 9:30pm.







The whole time we were out I kept telling ET that if he was good he could open an early Christmas present when we got home. He was so excited for this, and like I said, both boys were excellent the whole time we were out. When we got home, I hadn't even walked to the door yet, and ET had unbuckled himself, took his shoes off and ran into the house. I thought it was kind of strange how fast he was moving until I realized he must have ran inside to open his gift. I walked inside and called his name, but it was too late, he had already opened it. I was so sad, but understood that I didn't exactly explain to him that he should maybe wait for his brother and for his mom to take pictures first. He felt bad, so he just covered his gift up with the wrapping paper and said his sorry. So as you can see in the picture here, ET's gift is already ripped open. It didn't bother me too much because I was just happy to see his excitement.
The boys both got a pair of Christmas jammies (we are having a pajama party with the daycare kids on Thursday), and their own stuffed Santa. They absolutely LOVED their gifts and have been playing with their Santa's all week.