Holiday Traditions - North Park Mall

My laptop is finally fixed!! Hooray!! Now, get ready for a mad dash of catching up on all things Christmas.

First up is one of my families holiday traditions. Every year we head to North Park Mall in Dallas. They go all out on decorations and exhibits. I think we have been going to this mall every year for about 10-11 years now. I remember going a few times during my childhood, but it was the start of a family tradition when grandchildren entered into it.

Here is a Santa and his reindeer made with
nuts, apples, marshmallows, and other edibles.

Under that is a turtle and duck pond thingy. The kids love to watch!

Last year, the girls did little more than exist.

Here the girls sit with my brother and my mom.
Oh my GOSH, what a difference a year makes...

This year the girls were old enough to enjoy the sights.

Window shopping
Hey, we start 'em early

Olivia with Grana

Abby getting plenty of attention from her brother and cousins

One of our favorite things to see is The Ronald Mc.Donald House toy train exhibit.

Abby pointed at everything

Olivia loved this little window where she could see the train come by.

They set up the trains among all kinds of settings, including...

Dallas

along with the Ronald Mc.Donald House there next to the hospital

An old western town complete with a native american village

The white house

New York

Mount Rushmore
Zachary with cousin Cameron
A circus

Check out this street scene
And you can't forget the Porsche dealership (HA!)

Another favorite is the Scrooge puppet show.

Ah Scrooge, I remember seeing him when I was 3 years old. He asked me how old I was and I said , "3!". He commented how I was the only child who said my age and didn't hold up fingers. So I then very delicately held up my 3 fingers at him while the crowd laughed.


He is crude and hilarious in his bah-humbugness. He insults a man's fashion sense. He squirts the kids with water. He berates people for watching him instead of working. He comments how one particular man was here last week with his other girl! Every year he closes his side shutter so the people on one side can't see him.

Last year both Collin, my nephew

and Zachary was teased about not being on Santa's good list. Zachary has been called out the past 3 years. He was a little bummed when he didn't get picked this year.

Just look at the pure enjoyment of it!

Well, except Abby over there. She lost sight of us for a bit.

We all laugh right along with him and groan at his bad jokes. And he tells the sames ones...every.year. And we really don't care!

The whole group!
Collin, Jordan, Cameron, Zachary, and the ladies
2 of my other nephews were not there

My brother taught Olivia a new trick
"Cheese!"

After all that excitement, Abby was done

What I didn't realize was...
as I took pictures of Olivia's "cheese" face
how close Abby was...

to falling completely asleep.

Poor baby

Coming up are more Christmas catching up posts!