Tree Lighting Tradition and Black Friday Shopping

Tonight we went downtown for the lighting of the Old Oak Tree. I think it is a cute town tradition.

It wasn't as fun as I was hoping it would be... because I was a little cranky and so were my kiddos.

But we still had fun. The weather was much warmer than last year. There were free cookies and hot cider and hot cocoa to try... and my favorite treat- Peppermint Joe Joes distributed by the local Trader Joes store.

We all managed to find each other just in time for the tree to get lit...

Catie loved watching Andrew ride the train around with Grandma.

We grabbed some treats at our favorite chocolate shop.

Checked out the fire engines

Attempted to take a family picture... and then decided that the grumpy kids would go home with Kevin and Grandpa, while the girls stayed and bopped around some more.

We listened to music, ate treats, wandered around, and ran into a few friends.

We also watched some dance teams. I decided that I really hope Caitlin doesn't want to do dance when she gets older. The music and moves we were watching little girls do were so provocative that it made me a little sad (tear up sort of sad).

We watched a pretty sweet high school (or maybe middle school?) band rock out and then I loved the Nutcracker dancers. My only wish all night was that I was a little bit taller so I could've seen over the crowds a bit better.

After a day of Black Friday shopping... and then walking all over town we were exhausted!! Today was probably my most successful day of shopping ever. I got a new cute coat (picture above), new shoes, and some new outfits... in addition to several Mrs. Fields cookies.

It was a great day!

Side note- if you're looking for some cute holiday ideas even after all your Black Friday shopping, I'm giving away a fun little ZipBin storage playmat on my Toddler Approved blog this week. We love them and already have several at our house (in addition to a few that the company gave me to try out for free). There aren't too many people signed up yet, so your chances of winning are pretty high. :)