Mommy-Daughter Holiday Date

What a fun day!  A few weeks back I planned a holiday mommy-daughter date to kick off the season. Rylee and I both love Christmas and I enjoy attending as many holiday activities as possible.

Getting ready to head to Des Moines for our fun day.

We attended our 3rd annual Disney on Ice performance.  I just can't imagine not going to this now.  It's fun for the whole family, no matter your age.  I never think it can get any better than the previous year and I'm always pleasantly surprised.  I really loved several things in the performance this year and even found myself getting teary-eyed with excitement (is that weird?). Rylee had been counting down the days and was overjoyed when she woke up that it was finally here!  She thoroughly enjoyed the show as I expected (except when I wouldn't buy her overpriced plastic toys).

The other event we attended today was conveniently right across the street from the Disney on Ice venue. I was gifted two tickets to the Blank Children's Hospital Festival of Trees.  What an amazing event!  This really put my heart in the right place for the season.  I'm always thinking of ways to give during the holiday and attending this event gave me some new ideas.

If you haven't been, Festival is held at Veterans Memorial and houses lots and lots of beautifully decorated Christmas trees, with proceeds from the event going to Blank Children's Hospital.  We got there right when they opened and had time to walk through all of the trees before it got busy.  Each visitor is given a ballot to vote for their favorite tree.  Rylee picked this one.

And this one got my vote.

Once we finished looking at the trees, we bought a cookie from the bake sale and found seats near the stage to watch the local dancers that were about to perform.  We watched about 15 dances -- young kids are so fun to watch perform!  There was an incredibly adorable young boy dancing and all I could picture was Wyatt -- I made sure to tell James I now have plans to put Wyatt in dance ;)

While we didn't participate, there were so many activities there for the children -- train ride, cookie decorating, gingerbread house making, etc.  Santa was also there for pictures -- Rylee was just "thrilled" about this (she hates Santa...and Cy...and Smokey the bear...and every other costumed creature).  It was a fun, festive event to kick off the holiday and I plan to attend again.  It's a great way to give a little to the children's hospital while enjoying sounds and sights of the season.

Our family Christmas activities this week will be driving around looking at Christmas lights and shopping for our Angel Tree families.  

Have a great week!!