By the calendar, Christmas may be six weeks away, but ’round here, the season has officially begun!

No, that’s not my tree, although, I have to admit that I’d love a big mermaid tree (not Ariel, obviously). This week, I took E. to the Peter Pan Pajama Party Reindeer Romp at the Festival of Trees at the Orlando Museum of Art. Phew! That’s a mouthful!

A friend had sent around an email seeing if anyone wanted to go. I thought she had to be wrong that it was this week, but sure enough, the event was scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 14. The event details encouraged kids to wear holiday PJs. Since E. has grown about 4 or 5 inches since last year (I’m not even joking) nothing from last Christmas fits. Thankfully, I found some holiday PJs at Costco, so we bought our $12 tickets and decided to kick the holidays off!

Our first stop at the Reindeer Romp was the face-painting station.

Ugh, facepainting at night. Is there a tougher choice for a parent? Thankfully, it was included in the price, so I didn’t fight it too much. And double thankfully, E. chose a white, sparkly snowflake. Her friend, though, chose a reindeer to match her reindeer antlers. It really was the cutest thing ever, though, so I’m sure her Mommy didn’t mind it too much when it came time for the pre-bed wash-off.

I mean, c’mon with these girls.

The Festival of Trees is gorgeous. There are dozens and dozens of trees that have been decorated by various organizations and people. This year’s theme was “Once Upon a Time … A Fairy Tale Festival.” There were so many creative and pretty trees.

Hello, Alice.

Sparkly apples, a tree full of mirrors and a heart in a box can only mean one story …

And Disney had a whole area dedicated to the New Fantasyland.

But my favorite wasn’t a fairy … she was an angel.

Think that’d fit in my house? I want all three angels. You know, for a totally laid back look this year.

For some reason, the girls weren’t as into ooohing and aahing over the trees as the moms were. Thankfully, there was so much to entertain them. First, we checked out some performances by the Russian Ballet Academy.

Yes, that ballerina is dressed like a cobra. Why must there always be snakes?!? E. was mesmerized though.

E. loved every second of it. As soon as each mini-set ended, she applauded loudly and with joy. I hardly saw any of the performances because I couldn’t stop watching her. It was pretty awesome. It made me so excited to take her to her first ballet show next month — The Nutcracker! She’s going to LOVE it.

After the show, we checked out more trees and found the collection of elaborate gingerbread houses. This one was my favorite — Hansel and Gretel. The water wheel next to the house even moved. Super cool.

The gingerbread houses were a big tease, so I went to find the Cookie Cousins decorating area so that E. could have a sweet Apparently she takes her frosting very seriously.

Although, not as serious as she is about eating cookies.

We still had one more BIG thing on our to-do list before leaving — a meet and greet with the big guy himself. Well, I’ll just let Buddy tell you who it was.

I can’t wait until that movie goes into the Family Movie Night rotation!

It was dicey whether we were going to get to see Santa or not but we were the second to last group to make it before they shut him down. Phew!

This year, E. is ALL ABOUT the Santa. She thinks and talks about him (and of course the Blue Devil) obsessively.

They had a very serious talk about what she wants for Christmas.

She told him that she wants a Jake and the Neverland toy. Actually, one specific one — Bucky’s ship that comes with Hook, Smee, Jake and Scully. It’s a good thing that Santa’s elves were tipped off early and were somehow able to snag THE.VERY.LAST.ONE of these toys at Costco last week. If Santa’s other elves need help, they should know that the Costco version is not only $10 cheaper than the Disney Store version but it also includes more pieces, including the Jolly Roger.

Hopefully, Santa can remember where he hid the gift come Christmas morning. His memory isn’t what it used to be.

It was an awesome, awesome night. I can’t believe it included all of that (plus unpictured balloon artists, a pirate show, a magic show, a storyteller and a singer) for just $12 each. We’ll definitely be back next year. Will I still be able to hold my ever-growing girl by then?

I sure hope so.

What are some of your Christmas traditions? Are you mentally ready to start celebrating the holiday season?