Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Welcoming Christmas

The first weekend of December kind of started the Christmas rush for us.  We had the Hobe Sound Christmas parade on Saturday; Saturday evening we took the rental car (convertible) we used in the parade down to Palm Beach Gardens to look at Christmas lights; then Sunday evening we went to the Singing Christmas Tree at Hobe Sound.  From that first weekend of December up till Christmas, everything was pretty much a quick blur as it usually is leading up to Christmas.
 
 
Saturday morning, everyone gathered at the office to eat some lunch and get ready for the parade at 1:00.  There were a lot of people coming in and out and running around.  These two little cuties made great little door-holders as stuff was being carried out to the convertible.
 
MANY things were hauled out of the office into the car - frisbees with HSBR's name on them (people LOVE getting those); bags of candy, business cards, and Chick-fil-A coupons; and of course lots of bottles of water for all of our people walking - remember, this IS a FLORIDA Christmas parade.  :-)
 
 
This was the first year Kaelyn walked in the parade.  She was very eager and ready to get started.
 
 
 
The sign always comes first.
 
 
 
Chick-fil-A always joins our "float" and so we usually have a Santa [eat more chickin'] cow as well as coupons that we hand out for a free chicken sandwich.  This year we had a Santa cow and his little elf cow, which was quite cute as far as elf cows go I guess.  :-) 
 
 
 
Kaelyn had a buddy, Kristin, to walk with her and help keep her going and on focus.  :-)  Kristin is one of the daughters of one of Kevin and Rod's employees.
(The parade is usually a whole family affair for HSBR so there are lots of kids and teenagers helping to pass stuff out.)
 
 
 
Mr. HSBR himself tossing out frisbees.   :-)
 (The other Mr. HSBR was driving the car behind Kevin.)
 
 
 
Three cows.  :-) 
The smaller one on the left is supposed to be the elf cow and of course the one on the right is the Santa cow.
For you northerners who might not have Chick-fil-A restaurants near you, their marketing campaign uses cows that hold signs, paint billboards, etc. encouraging people to "eat mor chikin" thus, saving their lives of course.  I'm sure you have seen a lot of pictures of us the past several years at various times with the Chick-fil-A cow and so if you have wondered what that was all about, that's what it is.  (I know a few years ago when our Christmas card picture was us with the cow some of our friends from the North were confused as to what it was about until we explained it.)  :-)
 
 
 
The bosses - and Rod and Kevin.  :-D   Just kidding!
 
 
 
Kay has always loved the cows.  She has outgrown some of her enthusiasm but she was still happy to pose with them and tell them about how we have videos of the Santa cow holding her and dancing with her a few years ago at the parade when she was just three.  :-)
 
 
 After the parade was over and we got everything cleaned up, we went home and rested for a bit and then went down to Palm Beach Gardens.  We always try to make it down there to see the lights at a couple different places but it was particularly fun doing it in the convertible that the business had rented for the parade.  We didn't have to return it till Monday morning.
 
We put the top down once we got down there. For a change, it was actually a bit chilly that evening and even sprinkling a bit off and on but not so badly that we had to put the top up.
Kaelyn was pretty much in awe as most people are when they see this.  We have been going to see this particular street for years now but I'm not sure she really remembered this.
 
 
 
I've never been able to figure out any particular story behind this.  The street is called Snug Harbor.  At the very end of the street is huge fences and double gates leading into a huge, fancy house.  I can't ever seem to find details online about who the owner is but it is obviously someone very wealthy.  He hires a company with cranes and stuff to come in and not only decorate all around his place but all the way up and down the street and in the yards of the other homes on the street.  The other houses on the street are quite normal and not particularly big or fancy but the whole street looks AMAZING!  And why not?  If someone wanted to put elaborate lights and decorations in my yard and up my street, I would certainly let them!  :-)
 
 
 
Pictures on a simple camera don't even begin to do justice to the street but just suffice it to say, it's pretty breath-taking and we usually circle around and go through it a couple time.  We also pull off to the side and walk around a bit to get pictures.
 
 
 
 
 
All the branches have the lights hanging off them that move to look like snow besides the fact that every tree is covered in lights.
 
 

This is getting closer to the end of the street where the big house is.  I just realized, we didn't even take pictures of a LOT of the things set up in each yard.  As you drive down the tree-lit road, everywhere you look to the right and left there are things set up: trains, nativity scenes, snowmen, reindeer, Santa and his elves riding on all sorts of things, and even a Noah's ark.  All along his fences he turns them into "Santa's toy shop".  It starts up the side and goes all the way around.  There is a right turn as you continue to drive along his property.  You then turn right on another street and ake a circle back out to the main road.  The last two years, there have been local police at the entrance monitoring and directing traffic in the evening.  Some of the people that live on the street were sitting outside when we were there this year and we overheard them telling some people that were out walking through the street that the guy that does it also pays to have the police come out to help with traffic.  Like I said, I don't know who he is or what he does but he has a little bit of money.  :-)
 
 
 
 
 
 
These are the gates that go back into his garage, house, etc.  If you peek back through them, you can see and enormous place. 
 (Not that we would try to look back there and see or anything...)  :-)
 
 

 

This castle is actually back in up his driveway behind the gates.  You can see it if you are driving by on the street but not real well.  If you get out of your car and look through the gates, you can get a perfect shot through the bars of the gates, or so I've heard.  ;-)
(Yep, I'm the guilty culprit that stuck my phone through the bars so I could get the picture.  Kevin, on the other hand waited until a vehicle used the keypad and went through the gates and hurriedly snapped a picture before the gate closed behind the vehicle.)  :-)  We're tricky like that.
 
 

I love these two bears decorating their Christmas tree!
 
And if you are really curious and interested in this (and maybe have time to kill besides), which I doubt you are, here is a link to a video someone posted of driving through the area:
 
 

Kaelyn's little tree and room decorations went up last but she was thrilled of course to have them up.  They will likely be up for a few more weeks as she usually isn't ready to take them down and she wants to leave them up through January.
 
 

And last but not least, the Singing Christmas Tree.  We always have to rush over to the center of the church as soon as it's over to play in the "snow".  Sunday night is the last night they do it so they usually just let the snow machine go until it's empty, much to all the poor Florida kids' delight who don't actually have any real snow.
And once we've had the parade, and been to the Singing Christmas Tree, we officially know that the Christmas season has arrived!

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