Santa Claus, IN/ Americas Hometown Christmas Pageant!

Candace has been wanting to get my niece Ashlynn into a beauty pageant and met a friend at work who gave her some information on one coming up. It was in Santa Claus, IN. Ashlynn was so excited to do it. So we made a girls weekend out of it and headed 3 hours south to visit Santa. We left Friday night around 6pm. Made one stop for dinner at McDonalds and arived at Santa's Lodge at 9pm. I hate driving at night, but I made it. Everything was pitch black so there was nothing to look at. Anyway after we got there we just hung out in our room and went to bed to get ready for the pageant the next morning. She had to be checked in at 8am and her interview was at 9am. So we got up at 6am to get ourselves and Miss Ashlynn ready. Her first outfit was a pink Santa dress that she had picked out. Then all we did was straighten her hair and add some accesories. This pageant does not allow makeup on anyone younger than 13, it is a natural pageant, which was nice. After we checked in she got to practice. Luckily we were friends with the Sweatheart (age divison above ashlynn) Queen from the State Pageant. She helped Ashlynn alot on what she needed to do on stage and during her interview. After the interviews, which she still will not tell us how it went or what they asked, and practice we headed out to lunch. Only to find out that the only place to eat in Santa Claus was a Subway and everyone in the town was there. Santa Claus, IN does not have a Mcdonalds or a Walmart. LOL! Anyway then we did some shopping, wrote a letter to Santa, sat on Santa's lap, and she even went swimming back at the hotel. Then it was time to get ready for the big event. Candace started curling Ashlynns hair at 2pm and didnt finish till 4:30. Then we headed down for the pageant. Ashlynn did great on stage, she did it just as she had practice. She was not scared at all. The first time on stage she wore her pink Santa dress and had to dance around on stage and of course smile for the judges. She had her dance routine down perfect. Then it was a quick change into her Formal Christmas Dress. This time on stage she was escorted by the Mr. Coed Winner ( a very cute young boy) and just had to walk nice and stand pretty. She did not get crowned Miss Santa Claus, but she did WIN and trohpy for Miss Photogenic and she gets half price in the State Pageant next year. She was very happy. She did great and had fun, which was all that mattered. After the pageant we drove through "The land of light" It was all kinds of moving LED christmas light ups and a path that told the story of rudolph. It was pretty neat and we even seen a family of real deer " well reinder and rudolph according to Ashlynn" That was all there was to do in that town so we went back to the room and hung out till bed time. Then it was back on the road first thing in the morning. It was much easier driving during the daylight, even though there was still nothing to look at. I got us home in 2 hours and we were glad to be back. Well until next time.... Look out for Ashlynn she is a diva on the loose!