You Know It's Christmastime When...

You know it’s Christmastime when grandma gets run over by a reindeer. The pharmacy in Ponca shared this fun piece during the Christmas Parade of Lights. This annual parade is held in early December here in the town of Ponca, NE with the Ponca Community Club. What a fun little night. The pharmacy was one of my favorite floats that night. Not to mention that is a fun song to sing along to, while grandma getting run over by a reindeer is not so fun.

You know it’s Christmastime when beautiful lights bring lots of cheer. It is always fun to see the lights that families and businesses put up this time of year. We had a beautiful night here in Ponca for the Christmas parade as these lighted floats drove down Main Street. From what I hear this little town has quite a bit going on despite its size.

You know it’s Christmastime when men are dressing dogs up with lighted wreaths and dancing to music in the shop. Ponca State Park participates in the town parade. This year, the guys decided to build the float display around a duck blind. One outdoorsy theme they haven’t used yet. We helped suggest some lights around the top, and helped tear down the decorations. Otherwise, it was mostly the guys in maintenance, the assistant superintendant, and park superintendant that did the decorating. Can you tell? Haha. Just kidding.  It was a man’s world up in the shop that day when we delivered some lights.

You know it’s Christmastime when Santa is visiting the dentist for his annual checkup before the big day. As I read the sign on the parade float from the dentist office, it read "Santa needs to see a dentist cause he has a canine on the loose.” Then there was a big Santa head with the teeth cut out, and then I noticed the yellow lab inside. A canine on the loose! hahaha

You know it’s Christmastime when Santa makes his entrance into town before he finds his place on a chair to visit with the children. Santa was on the last part of the parade and headed to the Community Center after where a hot dog supper was being served and he would be speaking with the boys and girls.

You know it’s Christmastime when you are making a Christmas tree out of twigs. One of our Christmas crafts available this last Saturday at the park was making a little twig tree. It was a little project with parts of nature, where a few families came together to work on these ornaments together.

You know it’s Christmastime when we pile up some scraps of Christmas fabric to make some wreaths. We had a full room full of boys and girls, aunts, cousins, moms, and grandparents working on these Christmas wreaths together.

You know it’s Christmastime when Christmas cards are being prepared. We asked some of our guests to help us make some cards from various materials and recycled front pages of old cards that we will be delivering to some residents in local nursing homes. One family in particular was very excited about helping with this project. Each card is unique, and I am excited to deliver them.

You know it’s Christmastime when Christmas cookies are being baked and decorated. I have seen many photos posted lately of my friends and family amid their Christmas baking. Oh what fun! It’s fun to see families come together for this tradition. We have cookies available at the Park with supplies for decorating on Saturdays as part of “Christmas in the Woods”.

You know it’s Christmastime when grandparents are spending time with their grandkids. This family was fun and friendly. They decorated some cookies with us and then came back for some family portraits.

You know it’s Christmastime when families are dressing schnazzy for their Christmas picture. This cute family came to have me take some portraits for them. The little guy did not want to smile for nothing. 

You know it’s Christmastime when siblings are wearing reindeer antlers for a great photo together. I finally caught this little guy smiling!

You know it’s Christmastime when a family smiles together. At first this family just asked me to take a photo of the daughter. After they saw me taking some whole family photos, they asked if I would take one for them, too. Of course!

You know it’s Christmastime when you ask a little girl to do you a favor by holding a wreath for you. She did a great job. 

You know it’s Christmastime when guests are invited to take a lighted hayrack ride on a trip down to the river through the park. This is such a fun thing the park offers and we had a nice night for it. Christmas music was playing while the truck pulled us to the river and back. A peaceful little ride, and I enjoyed hearing families chat while on board.

You know it’s Christmastime when families spend extra time together. My parents came to visit me this weekend, and we had a wonderful time together. This is the first time they have been up to Ponca since helping me haul in some of my furniture back in October. We all enjoyed the hayrack ride!

You know it’s Christmastime when a couple has a flyer inviting everyone to an open house at their home to see their collection of Christmas decorations. A grand and impressive collection, mind you! I saw the flier at work and mentioned it to my parents. The three of us decided to go Saturday evening, and man oh man… We agreed this was well worth the trip and will definitely return to see it again in future years. This couple has been collecting decorations for 30 years and opening their home to share their collection for the past 15 years. They had a yard full of lights where we walked through a few rows of lights, inflatables, and music. I felt like a 5-year old as I said “Oooooh, Mom did you See that one?! Dad, look over there!”

After enjoying the outdoor display, we headed inside to find many Christmas trees, collections of ornaments, a full Christmas village, nutrackers, and many buttons to push – a human-sized Santa bear that danced, a fox that shuffled to music, a tree with a face, and much much more! This was so fun, a great sight to see, and a joyful experience. I highly recommend making the trip to see it, if you are anywhere near! I’d even go with you again! Gene and Julie are great people and are so kind to share this with strangers.

Hope you are all feeling the Christmas spirit! Wishing you a wonderful week!