After a hearty Thanksgiving meal and day spent taking care of a couple things around the house, we were ready to get out a little on Friday. Friday afternoon we headed towards downtown Dayton to check out the Dayton Holiday Festival by the Downtown Dayton Partnership. We only did a few of the activities available but had a nice time getting into the holiday spirit.
We started out looking at the Wonderland Windows featuring the Rike’s Holiday Window Display. Rike’s Department Store once stood where today’s Schuster Performing Arts Center now stands and these displays are over 50 years old, purchased shortly after World War II. The girls enjoyed looking at all the details and moving figures.
Next we let our 4 year old visit the Tike’s Shoppe. Speaking with one of the representatives from YES! for Youth, the organization the Tike’s Shoppe benefits, she told me this has been a local tradition for over 70 years with grandparents who participated as children bringing their grandchildren to experience it.
Parents identify a shopping list and provide a budget for each child, then each child is paired with a volunteer that helps them shop. I peeked through the door a couple of times to see how she was doing and seemed to be engaged in selecting just the right present for her Mom, Dad, and sister. She had help wrapping and labeling each gift and was very proud of the surprises she picked up for us.
Next was our first visit with Santa of the season. Aubrey, the 2 year old, wasn’t too keen on getting close to the big guy but liked Mrs. Clause, sitting on her lap a few times.
The Junior League of Dayton sponsored a Holiday Hunt for kids to do activities and collect stamps that children traded in for a book. There were way more activities in the Holiday Village than we had time for but our girls really enjoyed them and there was even a free photo booth so we snapped a picture of the four of us.
We had to make a stop to check out the Virginia Kettering Holiday Train Display. I’ve been doing a little research on Virginia Kettering for work and suggest looking her up if you are interested in Dayton area history. Long story short, much of what we enjoy and are lucky to have Dayton would not be here without her contributions.
We will definitely be making plans to see and do more next year with a whole street fair and horse-drawn carriage rides as part of the festivities – including going early in the day to play in the life size snow globe! We didn’t stick around for Children’s Parade or The Grande Illumination of the tree this year which draw huge crowds.
Instead, we headed home for turkey leftovers (turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce on a toasted bread with green beans) and Warped Wing Brewing Company’s Esther’s Lil Surprise Milk Chocolate Brown Ale (featuring chocolate notes and named for the founder of Esther Price Candies). We closed out the day with Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
I still have a few Christmas gifts to pick up on so I’m spending the rest of the weekend keeping an eye for deals on what I’m looking for. Here’s a quick round up of some holiday gift ideas:
- FabKids clothing for kids
- Wild Republic toys (not too late to make a purchase that also makes a donation to Project Night Night and enter a giveaway!)
- Glider Gloves make a great stuffer for adults that like to use their phones but don’t like cold hands
- Sound Intone HD30 Headset for kids or adults
- Beabies teething necklace sets for the new mom
- Diaper Junction has Sitebuster Deals all weekend for those into cloth diapering and babywearing
I’ll also be working on getting my Shutterfly holiday cards addressed and mailed out. If you still need to get cards, Shutterfly has 10 Free cards for you to enjoy using the code 10FORME at checkout. Plus, enjoy 50% off hard photo cover Photo Books and 40% off everything else using the code BLACKFRIDAY plus free shipping on orders $39+ or more with promo code SHIP39. Deals good until 11/29.
If you are in Dayton or Cincinnati, Ohio, be sure to enter to win tickets to Marvel Universe Live! in December. I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend!
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Domesticating Michelle 