Holidazzle

Walker is a December baby.  Our first year together, I planned a birthday weekend for him that became one of our favorite holiday traditions.  We take a couple days off work and head to Minneapolis for a long weekend.  We like to stay downtown, and we always attend the Holidazzle.  If you've never lived in a cold climate (or maybe if you have), you might think we're nuts to stand outside in December, at night, to watch a parade, but it's so pretty and we have so much fun.  All you need to do is dress in layers and grab a hot drink and you're fine.  It only runs about thirty minutes.  Jack Frost can't even find you in the crowd in that amount of time.

Last year, we lost my beautiful Aunt Henrietta to cancer the weekend before our getaway.  Honestly, at that point I didn't really want to go.  But my brother and sister-in-law were bringing my nephews up, and we didn't want to miss their first Holidazzle experience, so off we went.  And I'm glad we did.  We spent some time with my Aunt Nade while we were in the city, we had some great conversation on the drive, and we were able to step away from the sadness for a bit. 

This year, it's just not going to happen.  I have radiation treatments every weekday until December 23rd, and I'm too sore to ride in a car with a seat belt on for that long.  Even with a pillow between the belt and my chest (thank you, again, Janine, for that suggestion - it really helps!) I think it's too long.  Add to that the budget busting medical bills and the case is closed.  We're staying home.

Since I won't have Holidazzle 2010 photos to share with y'all, here are some of the floats we saw in 2009: