Santa's Arrival

Well, it's that time of year again. I don't know if it's just Orlando, but everyone seems to be skipping Thanksgiving these days. As soon as the pumpkins and candy are gone, the lights are up and Christmas Carols are playing. This year was no different as the Millenia Mall celebrated Santa's arrival (two weekends before Thanksgiving!). It's really a great event, with live music, food, Mrs. Clause and various holiday characters entertaining the crowd...all in anticipation of Santa's arrival. This was our third year going and the kids (and adults) had a great time - even though this year it was 87 degrees that day, which made it a little harder to get into the Holiday spirit! You will notice however, that Brooks is not in many pictures, because he would not get near the characters. Santa makes his huge entrance in a cloud of smoke on top of the Cheesecake Factory with a firework display and "snow" begins to fall. He then makes his way throught he crowd and marches to his throne where he spends the next several weeks until Christmas. This year was special because the same night was also the final night launch of a Space Shuttle. After the excitement of Santa's arrival, we were able to watch the final launch before heading home (moon is on the left, shuttle on the right). The picture isn't great, but it was very cool to see!