Welcoming Christmas in Lebanon

Lebanon Christmas Parade

The Parkers kicked off the Christmas holiday season by heading down to Lebanon, Ohio for our traditional visit to the annual horse-drawn Christmas parade. The most exciting aspect for Mommy and Daddy? It was Corbin's first! It was mighty cold and a long walk from the car (we almost missed the 1 p.m. parade) but my, it was fun to watch the wonder on Corbin's face as each carriage passed - variously pulled by draft horses, mules, donkeys, gaited horses and miniature horses.

Corbin Catches Sight of First Carriage



Aunt Panda's Favorite

We took in all our favorites - the Paso Fino gaited horse demo, shopping at Broadway Antique Mall and Oh Susanna! and dining at the Village Ice Cream Parlor. Corbin had fun toddling up and down Broadway and spent 15-plus minutes popping into and out of this sale sign.

Thinking about it....

I'm Hiding!

Surprise!

We also took advantage of the free wagon ride - can't believe we hadn't done that before - and Corbin wasn't sure what to make of the VERY big draft horses.

Hello?!

We decided to leave before the evening parade, but lost our car! After 40 minutes of wandering through the cold and darkened streets of Lebanon, with tears from both Corbin and Mommy, we were hungry and popped into Bob Evans for a late night dinner.

While waiting for a table, we got confirmation from our waitress about a story we had been hearing all day. There was a deadly barn fire early that morning at the Lebanon Raceway, a harness racing track. Two groomers and 43 horses perished. My heart hurt as we drove out of town. On a day that celebrates the horse and people who love horses it was a sad counterpoint.