The early bird gets no lines...

If you haven't heard, Santa's Wonderland now opens at 3pm on the weekends. I know. Crazy, talk!! I mean, who wants to go walk around Santa Town in DAYLIGHT!?!?!

Ummmm.... we did. And it was GLORIOUS. 

Admittedly, it felt a tad bit strange to be there so early, but when it only took 10 minutes to get a picture with Santa instead of the regular 20-30... we were sold. 

This is the 4th or 5th time we've wandered out to ol' Santa Town and the first time we haven't had to rush, skip something, or be overall annoyed at the waiting. 

There was plenty of space for the kids to run around, see the sights, explore and do whatever it is that they wanted to do - without picking one thing over the other for time. 

They have made a few changes to the park that made things less hectic, too. The outdoor theater has moved to what once was the main entrance to drive-thru. (You can only drive thru on certain nights now, so if you are looking to do that then read this.)

The petting zoo also moved "across town" next to the line for hayrides - which is smart because kids have a distraction while their parents wait in the up to TWO HOUR line and then SW makes more money. #genius 

All the sight seeing, goat feeding, and hay stack jumping got the crew a little hungry. 

I think this is Radley's favorite part - the roasting pit. What is it with men and fire?

Sugar...

spice...

and when did he turn 13?!?

As we were eating, we noticed a sign that said Sheriff Frosty appears every hour. We decided to wait a few extra minutes to see what Frosty would be doing (again, something we hadn't really paid attention to before). I didn't notice that Landry had walked up the steps next to Radley and went under the rope - right as Frosty came RUNNING out on stage. 

Y'all. She may be traumatized for life. 

And we may have laughed. 

Needless to say, she didn't want any pictures after the show!

As the sun began to set we made our way to the line for the hayride. 

We got there a little later than intended and did wait in line for about 45 minutes. If you decide to go, then show up right at 5:30pm - hayrides begin at 6pm and you will be one of the first ones on. The extra 15 minutes didn't hurt us one bit. 

And we finished in plenty of time to jump in our car and go look at lights in our neighborhood, too!

(And in case you were wondering, it wasn't cold. Ryan is dressed appropriately - the girls were just really excited about their new coats.)

Merry Christmas!