Our first Christmas camping trip was one for the books... or not! We should have taken it as a sign on our way down when the kids were all excited to get kids meals and McDonald’s, so we stop, try and go in but the lobby was closed. Sooooo when you can’t go in, are pulling a camper and have upset kids, you do this...
We have been wanting to take a Christmas trip for a few years now and decided to travel south to avoid cold temps. Donald “researched” best Chrismas festivals in the south and up came “Candyland” in Andalusia. Though they have this festival, campgrounds are limited which brought us to Florala 30 miles south.
Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate and made the trip a little cold and a lot wet. 3 different weather systems came through and kept us on our toes with high winds, cold and lots of rain. To make matters worse the heavy rains made way into the camper causing Donald to spend some time on the roof at midnight while Kelly was trying to figure out how to dry her side of the bed. Luckily the kids had no clue all this had happened!
The following morning we saw enough break in the weather to allow us to venture out for a nice walk and scooter ride around the Lake Jackson. After much play in puddles and some ending in more rain, our soaked selves were ready to stay in the rest of the day.
After some games and devices (let’s be honest here), we decided to head into Crestview to see Mary Poppins. We all loved the movie, popcorn and candy and were hopeful the next day would be better, especially for Kelly’s birthday!
*Sidenote- we would have bailed on this trip most likely but we were determined to go to Candyland and this just wasn’t the night to go with the weather the way it was!
The cold and high winds were off to a great start the next morning but on a positive note Donald did an excellent job on the roof with the tarp and we were at least dry indoors! The weather did get better mid-afternoon and we made our way to “The Big R” restaurant for some birthday lunch home-cookin and then to... CANDYLAND!
Candyland was full of tiny little houses that different companies sponsored, decorated and each at kids activities in. There was also a sled ride that was actually so fast and a little scary! Kelly and Cora were the only ones that wanted to keep going! The kids loved the “Arctic Maze” and the numerous train rides. We ended with some kernel corn and got chocolate and we had a blast and were all in good spirits.
The trip couldn’t be complete without a tacky Christmas camping pic! “Scarla” is our new blow up that the girls were given as a gift (thanks Brooke) as a discard from a dirty Santa game. Caroline immediately named her Scarla, sang to her for fifteen minutes, and hugged her so hard that they both went tumbling. She is now our camper Christmas decoration (and we are thankful she won’t be in front of the house!)
