This past weekend Kenny took Elle on a Daddy Daughter Christmas date to Memphis. She loves staying in a hotel and so he thought it would be fun to take her for a day and night and do lots of fun Christmas activities that we are used to doing every year from living there and let me and Walker relax, bond and check some things off my to do list. It was so incredibly sweet how excited they both were to set off on their adventure. Kenny did not tell her everything he had planned.
Leaving bright and early for their trip.
Once they arrived they went straight to Enchanted Forest at the Pink Palace Musuem. This is one of our favorite things to do in Memphis during the holidays. They have all these decorated trees that the businesses do, old timey mechanical displays and trains and then a fantastic Santa!
We stop and take a picture with this snowman every year. He is right in the front of one portion of the display. I had to go back and put the pictures together of course and send the picture to Kenny. It made us both want to cry. Stop time!
Stinky skunk!
Seeing Santa! She remembered to tell him what she wanted this time. A pink car.
Once they were done with Enchanted Forest they decided to hit up another one of their favorite haunts. Memphis Pizza Company. For a while when Elle was little she was obsessed with pizza and Kenny would take her there all the time.
Look at how happy she is.
After lunch they did a little light shopping. They stopped in my favorite local bookstore (has a great restaurant/brunch spot too.) I used to take Elle to story time here once a week with friends or we would come and let the kids play at the train table. Elle claimed she remembered coming to story time here. I am not so sure. We do stop in this bookstore a fair amount when we are in town so I am sure that is what she remembers the most.
These are the risers for story time. A picture for old times sake.
Had the train table all to herself. A rare occurrence.
After checking into the hotel and taking a little rest it was time for the main event. Starry Nights at Shelby Farms! It is this fantastic light show that you drive through. We've taken Elle in the past years in our car and last year she fell asleep before we even got into the park. Traffic can be really terrible sometimes and it makes the wait really long. Kenny wanted to take her on a carriage ride. We called to make a reservation and told the guy on the phone that she was a 3 year old little girl and he said he had just the thing! PS: The best part about the carriage is she get to bypass all traffic and the very long wait.
Kenny knew he wanted the Cinderella carriage but this one was even Frozen themed. Elle was absolutely thrilled. She even got her serious face on at the beginning. Any time she gets serious we know she is loving something! She eventually snapped out of it and Kenny and Elle just had the best time looking at all the beautiful lights. Elle was also loving it because people were rolling down their windows and taking pictures of them in the carriage and telling them Merry Christmas. I think Elle thought she was a celebrity for a little bit!
Getting ready to head out in the carriage.
A white horse like Cinderella's pulling the carriage.
It was a pretty chilly night. I sent them with a blanket and hand warmers and the carriage had some blankets too. They didn't seem to mind too much.
Sweet pictures with Daddy.
After Starry Nights they stopped by a bakery to buy some Christmas cookies and went back to the hotel to snuggle in and watch Christmas movies on TV. They FaceTimed me at that point to tell me all about the night and Elle had a gingerbread cookie as big as her head eating it in bed. It was way past her bedtime at this point too!
They had the best weekend and I am so lucky to have a husband who truly wants to create these memories with our children. I can only hope Elle looks back and realizes what an amazing man her Daddy is!
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