New Year's Eve...

Our New Year's Eve was spent in way that's pretty typical for us... food, games and Shirley Temples :-) We had another Just Dance tournament (I'm pretty sure Clara was the winner), played some card games, ate guacamole and chicken nachos, etc., etc., etc,... the usual. I took no photos of the festivities though. That seems strange... but I guess I was either in the kitchen getting the next round of food ready or playing a game.

At around 11:15ish, we started getting ready to walk over to the base of the mountain. We got there in time to watch the parade participants ride up the chairlift...
Jeff and the kids could have participated, but decided to just be spectators this first year to see what it was all about.

Then we saw the glowing red lights snaking down the mountain...
I think the age is 16 to carry a torch, but you can ski or snowboard down without a torch. Jeff's not so sure about skiing without poles, so we'll see what he decides about next year. :-)

As soon as the last of the parade participants made it to the bottom, the fireworks began (and I took really crappy photos of them)!

Jeff had the flip, and the video shows them much better...

(Can you hear the Michigan midnight vs. Chicago debate going on the background?)

The fireworks went on forever... it was so cool!

Our two party animals at midnight....
... Clara looks tired and Alex looks a little crazed!

After the fireworks, we walked back home... but could we go to bed yet?? NO! And why? Because it wasn't midnight in Chicago yet! We still had an hour to go. The kids insisted on staying up so them could text their Chicago friends at midnight...
... they were just barely hanging on though!

It was a great way to end 2011 and begin 2012!