A Very Merry Hayride

I'm always on the lookout for fun seasonal activities we can do as a family. I came across this in the paper on Saturday: www.lightsontheneuse.com and thought it would be a fun thing to do. I wanted to go on Saturday but it rained so we decided to go last night. I hadn't heard anyone I know mention this so I was a little apprehensive to go spend $26 (plus the drive to Clayton) to go see the lights but in the spirit of the holidays we decided to go. On the way our friend Frances happened to call..she lives in Garner and happens to have 3 adorable little girls about the same ages of my kids so she piled everyone in the car and came to meet us. And we're so glad she did. Turns out they don't take credit cards (a major detail they should really put on their webpage) and thankfully she happened to have one check so she paid for us to get in.

Turns out a lot of people had the same idea as us..as Paul said "what did you expect..it's the Sunday before Christmas..did you expect it to be empty?" umm..yes..did they not know we were coming?? Anyway we finally get the tickets for the 11 of us (we're a scary party - there are 7 kids between our 2 families...we come and people run) and get in line for the hayride - the main attraction. Again, so thankful Frances came with us as we had to wait so the girls kept each other occupied and we all actually pretty good.

Finally we get to the hayride and it was really cute..there is a stop at Santa's workshop where it snows and lots of places where the tractor triggers the lights and they do a "show." The music is pretty good and everyone on the hayride was singing along. Though it was cold (well cold for here) we had everyone bundled up pretty well and no one complained. After the 30 min ride we went into the Sweet Shoppe for some hot chocolate. They also have Santa (in a cool sleigh) available for pictures. We let all the girls visit with him but we cheaped out on the pictures. All in all a fun family activity! Oh..a quick tip if you go: sit on the left side as you walk on the trailer - you have a much better view of the lights...luckily the girls sat on that side so they got to see the most...