Christmas In Basildon Town Centre

So today was the big day for Basildon Town Centre to shine as the Xmas lights were turned on. We didn't specifically go in to town to see the lights but just to do a little bit of shopping. We was pleasantly surprised to see that he council had really gone to town (pardon the pun) on this event and pulled out all the stops. Not only was their all the usual fair ground rides, Xmas market stalls, roasted chestnuts, etc, but there was so much more. Who would have thought the Basildon Town Centre would feature reindeer's, camels, bag pipe players on stilts and so much more. Our usual Saturday afternoon shop became quite a festive event as you can see from the pictures.

 

First the boys got to go inside one of the police riot van complete with an isolation cell in the back. All the kids seemed to have real fun climbing into the cell!!!! Lets just hope they didn't enjoy it so much that they are enticed into a life of crime to experience this again. Fingers crossed this will be the one and only time we see Joshua and Brandon locked up in the back of a Police van.

 

Finally the boys of off our hands and out of trouble (or is that in trouble?).

Around this time last year we were starting to prepare for our festive trip to the real Lapland where we experienced the most amazing reindeer ride and husky dog ride. Basildon Town Centre is not quite Lapland, but it was still amazing to see these beautiful reindeer's. 

Josh and Brandon watching Rudolph having a spot of lunch.

Check out the horns. Both boys braved stroking the reindeer's and touching the antlers.

What a beautiful animal. Brandon wanted to know why they have antlers to which I didn't have an answer. Time to hit google...

 

All in all there were four reindeer's on display and an owl in a sleigh.

The two boys in front of the large East Gate Xmas tree.

Next up was the large carousel ride.

Whilst waiting on the horses for the carousel to start we noticed the 3 camels with the wise men riding them. Joshua has obviously been paying attention at school as he knows the story about the wise men taking gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the little baby Jesus. 

Will this camel reach over for a nibble of their hair?

Josha and B with the 3 camels in the background.

The camels looked stunning and were all dressed up in bright, festive livary.

So all in all it was an eventful trip to town and I think we only saw a fraction of the events that were going on. Driving home we had lots of questions about where camels come from and why they are used in deserts and how you buy one when you need a new one etc.