The entire factory had one big sha-bang at the John Deere Park, which is called the Fundacao. We were shocked when we walked through the gates! I mean, this wasn't just a little Christmas party, this was like going to the fair! OK, it was a little better than the fair!
They had a stage set up for bands and a choir sang Christmas songs too!
I still haven't written a post about the traditional drink here, the chimarrao (read: shim-a-hone), but in short, all the natives are addicted to this tea-like drink. They have special cups and thermoses for their hot water. More on that later. It's really quite an amazing sight. Unless I stay in my home, there's no way I can go out in public and not see someone holding their drink. Normally, they are sitting, chillin' out, drinking the 'hone, as we (the Americans) like to call it.
Sippin' the 'hone. . . (I love this photo)
The guys in this band work at Deere and Kevin's played guitar a little with the lead singer. Sunday night was the first time I've heard them play and they were pretty amazing. Then again, the fact that they were playing American songs like Guns 'N Roses didn't hurt their appeal!
She loved this bouncy tent with balls and was very disappointed after her time was up.
Bounce, bounce, bounce. . .
How cool is this big fish?? Emma was obsessed with him and kept telling us she wanted to go play with the fish! The line for it was really long and the kids were all pretty big, so we just played around it. The mouth of the fish would open up and the kids could climb into it's mouth to be "swallowed". Then they come out his back side by sliding down a slide. Kind of funny when you think about it. . .
We were given tickets for crepes, ice cream, hot dogs (gag), and drinks. We gave away the tickets for the dogs because we're not real fond of them, but the crepes on a stick were amazing! The one I ate was filled with chocolate and I could have eaten 5 of them!
Finishing the last bite of her crepe, savoring the taste, I imagine!
Love this picture. Do not love the mosquito bites I received while sitting in the grass to take the picture! Apparently I have sweet blood and quite the allergy to the black mosquitos here. They have quite a liking for me, but it's a love/hate relationship. Pretty sure I'm the one hating. I wanted to saw my foot off today because it was itching so badly. Yes, I put repellant on THREE times, but it didn't work. I need to use a different kind. Yes, I have anti-itch cream that Deere gave us specifically for this reason, but once I start scratching, I can't stop until I'm swollen, almost bleeding and can't feel my foot. Then I feel better and forget to go get the cream until the next episode. If I wear socks and shoes, I'm good. Flip flops. . . not a great idea. Wow, that was quite a little blurb about the lovely mosquitos:) Good thing we're taking a little break from them!
We had a really great time at the party. We didn't realize the entire town was going to be there, so we were just amazed the whole time! Thousands of families were enjoying the warm evening! We walked around and talked to the people we knew from Deere and let Emma run wild. OK, not really, but had we let her, she would have been lost in the crowd. She was just in awe the entire evening! Because we'd been out late the two nights before, we checked out early. We missed Santa Claus, but figured the four or five we'd seen in the last two weeks would suffice.
