Pre-Thanksgiving celebration

For the past few years, we have gotten together with some other young couples from church to have a little "pre-Thanksgiving" celebration. Before there were kiddos involved, it usually meant meeting up at a local establishment for a tasty meal and a drink. Once there were little ones around, we'd meet at somebody's home for pizza. Unfortunately this year, with all the nasty bugs floating around, that didn't happen :(

J and I decided to have our own "pre-Thanksgiving" celebration with the Noodle and take her to a local, family-run ice cream parlor. She had never been here before so we thought it would be a fun way to start the holiday festivities. It is a total throw-back in time, all the way down to the uniforms that they wear. And all the pink and green...my oh my!! This specific location also has a carousel that slowly spins around and around and around. A little girl's dream!

The parlor...in all its glory.
Enjoying the pretzels before the ice cream. Yum!!
I'm spinning!
Too many choices.
See what I mean about the uniforms...classic!!
Yes, I take my hot fudge very seriously.
Giggles all around.

In keeping with the concept of celebrating, I just recently read an article about a family who pre-determines 24 special activities and puts the ideas into their Advent calendar. Each day when they open the calendar, they have something unique to do on that day, thus ensuring that they really slow down and enjoy this wonderful time of the year. Some days the item was simple, like watch a Christmas movie as a family. Other days it was more extravegant, like have breakfast with Santa Clause. What a neat idea! So my question is this: What are special traditions, memories, etc. that you do to help celebrate the holiday season? I'd love to hear!!