Better than Prom

There are two things I always wanted to do when I was a kid and my dad would always say no. 1) Carriage rides. 2) Rent a limo. We have taken the kids on a few carriage rides and, Dad, I was right--it is fun, dammit. The limo thing, I don't know why, but kids always want limos.

I remember my friends and I would save up money and pool it together to get a limo for a few hours. It used to be $100 per hour (way back when). Competition is a good thing and there are many more providers in the area than there used to be--now it is only like $60 per hour. But, we always needed a grown up to make the actual reservation. That never came from my house-my dad always hated the idea.

Lately, Phillip has been dying to ride in a limo. Every time we see one, he goes crazy and points out the window. He doesn't think there is someone special inside (like we used to), but it's the car itself he is fascinated with. So, we planned a big surprise for the holiday.

We rented a limo and it picked us up at 4PM. The kids new NOTHING about it, we didn't even tell them we had a surprise planned. It appeared in the driveway. They were confused, but calm. We all piled in. "Where are we going, what are we doing, did you know about this?" The questions started to pour out of all three.

"It's a surprise. We planned it for you." Then, I offered them all a Shirley Temple (a treat usually reserved for cocktail hour when we are at a hotel). I mixed them up in champagne flutes and passed them out. They were riding in style and loving it!

Our first stop was the State Museum to ride the train and see Santa (for the second time). Next stop, dinner at their restaurant of choice. They chose Friday's. By then the grenadine in the Shirley Temple's had kicked in and everyone was very squirly, so dinner was a bit rocky. I think all three of them, at one point or another, were on the floor under the table.

It got dark as we were eating and we left Friday's to head to the Zoo for Christmas at the Zoo (like a gazillion lights). We walked all around the zoo, rode the train and then headed back to the limo. More Shirley Temple's. We headed home but took the long way to look at some lights, including driving around the circle a few times.

They loved it! And, I must say, it was super nice to go all those places without parking, dragging everyone out of the car, coats, hats, etc. Instead, we just left a lot of that in the car, he would pull up curbside and drop us off. When we were done, just hop right back in!

They all kept saying this was the best night ever. Phillip, on the ride home, told me this was a great present. I was glad that he got it that this was a gift for him, not an expectation, but a gift. It may be a new holiday family tradition--we all had a great time.