Holidazzle

We just got back from our annual trip into downtown Minneapolis to see the Holidazzle parade. We usually go downtown, have an early dinner, then go see the Macy's exhibit and then head outside to get a spot for the parade. This year, we hit McDonalds in Woodbury on our way out (had to downgrade the dinner as you can tell), and headed out to the Mall of America to catch the Light Rail downtown. We'd never ridden the Light Rail before and it was really slick. Too bad it doesn't run out to the eastern suburbs. : ( We got downtown with plenty of time to get to Macy's, stand in line for at least 10 minutes to get the elevator up to the 8th floor...or so we thought. We did stand in line for the elevator for about 10 minutes, but didn't even make it to the 8th floor, where the "Santa's Elves" exhibit was. I think we stopped at the 4th floor and the elevator guy ushered us out saying, "the line for the exhibit starts here". Are you kidding me??? Anyways, we found out that the wait was about 2 hours and we promptly bailed. So, with an hour and a half to kill, we headed downstairs (by escalator) to the FAO Schwartz part of the childrens section. The girls checked out all the toys and spent a reasonable amount of time playing with the Jack in the Boxes. Maya thinks they're hilarious. By the time we bundled up and got outside, it was a total zoo. We've never been there when it was so packed. But, we ended up finding a good spot to watch and the girls loved it. Maya kept saying, "more coming?, more coming?" She was really cute all bundled up sitting on Daddy's shoulders. Then we caught the Light Rail home. We were packed in like sardines (not an exaggeration). We made it home in one piece and the girls went right to bed. They were pooped! Tomorrow is a day of rest, then...the 'Cove' women's cookie exchange. Yummy!