7 Ways to Celebrate in the Christmas Capital of Texas. Each year Grapevine, Texas bundles up dozens of family-friendly activities, adds millions of twinkling lights, festive music, and packs the 40-day calendar with more than 1,000 festive events. 

I live within driving distance of Grapevine and I am always impressed with the creative efforts which make the city sparkle during the last six weeks of the year. The city’s tapestry of color and light provides a magical atmosphere embracing holiday traditions with a Texas-style charm. The traffic can become chaotic and the sidewalks sometimes crowed but nevertheless it’s a sure bet for making memories.

 
I am passing along highlights for the holiday season.

  
1. Join the action at SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium. The Octonauts, the team of undersea adventure heroes from the hit animated TV show will undertake a special mission to train new members for the member of the Octonauts. Bonus Points: Find out who has been naughty or nice when Scuba Diving Santa returns. 

2. Build good cheer at LEGOLAND® Discovery Center. Take your kids to the Holiday Bricktacular at LEGOLAND® Discovery Center in December. Guests are invited to write their own letter to Santa and post it onsite and to test skills by helping the Master Model Builder create a Winter Wonderland.

3. Ride the Rails on the North Pole Express®. Board one of the beautifully decorated Grapevine Vintage Railroad’s Victorian rail coaches and head to the North Pole while elves sing traditional Christmas songs and spread holiday cheer. Mrs. Claus will present each child with a silver Santa bell. After the train arrives at the North Pole, guests walk along the snowy Christmas tree trail to enter Santa’s workshop. Santa arrives and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and shares a drink of chocolate milk served in Santa’s special memory mug. Bonus Points: Families receive a voucher for a complimentary family photo with Santa. Tip: This experience is very popular so to avoid dissapointment advance purchase recommended.

4. Enjoy the best of classic Christmas movies. This season at Grapevine’s Historic Palace Theater see A Christmas Carol, White Christmas, It’s A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, and double feature A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  

5. Participate in Texas heritage Christmas at Nash Farm’s Victorian Christmas. Nash Farm is a terrific spot for families any time of the year. During the holidays special programs reveal the origins of many current holiday traditions and invite each visitor to make a Victorian ornament to hang on their own tree.  Bonus Points: Farm tours begin at the pole barn, where visitors may enjoy hot cider and cookies, to the front door of the farmhouse, through the parlor, bedroom, dining room and kitchen, then outside by the burning yule log and back to the pole barn in December. 

6. Celebrate the Season at Gaylord Texan Resort’s Lone Star Christmas Featuring ICE! (November to January). The celebration includes two million holiday lights, two million pounds of snow, a 54-foot-tall Christmas tree, magical miniature train sets, five two-story-tall ice slides, 25-foot-tall Nutcrackers, and oodles of decorations. The resort provides complimentary parkas for both adults and kids who wish to take part in the fun. Bonus Points: Additional family-friendly activities include The Elf on A Shelf Scavenger Hunt, Santa’s Wild Workshop Snow Tubing, Gingerbread Decorating Corner and Milk & Cookies with Mrs. Claus. Details at www.ChristmasAtGaylordTexan.com

7. Pack for hot and cold.  Great Wolf Lodge guests will enjoy the 84-degree indoor waterpark, the largest indoor waterpark in Texas, along with special visits from Santa, North Pole University activities, a life-size Gingerbread House, Santa’s Letter-writing Depot, daily Polar Wolf Walk, Great Clock Tower holiday show, nightly snow land-themed story time and much more. Bonus Points: Look for the daily indoor snowfall right in the lobby.

  
Make it happen. Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau, toll-free 1-800-457-6338, (817) 410-3185 or visit www.GrapevineTexasUSA.com