Candy Cane Hunt and Lights of Life 5K

Saturday, December 3rd, we took Stella up to The Mable House for the candy cane hunt. She gets to grab as many candy canes as she wants (which isn't all that many since she doesn't like peppermint), decorate a gingerbread house, make a little baggie of reindeer food, decorate a cookie and see Mr. and Mrs. Claus. We love this free event for the community. This year as opposite from last year. It was a warmer, but it was overcast unlike last  year where the sun was shining bright, but it was very, very cold.

Stella actually asked for me to take a picture with her which never happens so I jumped at the chance.

We remembered a bag to collect candy canes this year.

Directly after the candy cane hunt, we got in line for Santa. We waited maybe 10 minutes. Once we got inside the house and it was her turn to go up, she burst into tears. We told her we'd sit with her, but she wasn't having it so we left. I'm just glad we didn't wait in line too long for her to change her mind.

Making a gingerbread house out of graham crackers. She loves this and just like last year, wanted Daddy to help her.

This year she wanted to roast a marshmallow in the big fire pit.

Afterwards we picked up Zaxby's for lunch and headed back home to finish getting ready for our trip to Disney the next day.

That afternoon, I swung by Kate's house to pick her up and we headed up to Life University for their 5K.
Noah's mom, Adriana (from MMO & St. Thomas) joined us this year along with her neighbor and a few friend's of Kate's.

This guy was the M.C. I just really wonder how long it took him to get all of this glitter out of his beard. 

I didn't think it was really cold out, but right when the run started, it began drizzling pretty heavily. Of course, as it got darker the temperature dropped so by the time we finished, I was quite cold., especially my hand.

I mostly stuck with Adriana and her neighbor, but towards the end caught up with Kate. I ran for a while three separate times and felt really good doing it which was a surprise for me since I didn't train.

This was a fun day and fun way to bring in the holiday festivities. I look forward to both events next year. I'm thinking about asking Stella if she wants to participate with me next year. I really think she'll love running the campus while admiring the lights. And it would be a cool thing for us to do each year.