This past Friday was opening night and media night for the all new WinterFest OC at the Orange County Fairgrounds. We were invited out to check out the holiday fun and we had Scott and  Buffy attend for us and send us this great report. 

Arriving in the late afternoon at the OC Fairgrounds it's amazing seeing more places transformed for the holidays. 

There's even a Carnival, we'll get back to that in a bit. 

Let's head into WinterFest. 

Great Red Balls of Fire!! 

Indoor Ice Skating with penguin helpers for those of us who don't know how to skate. 

Great holiday fun

What holiday event would be complete without Reindeer? They are beefing up for their epic journey this Thursday night. 

Also popular at holiday events, tubing on ice!!! (it's a lot of fun)

Nice show area set up

Ooooooh .... Aaaaaah ... 

Carolers in front of the Hangar 

Lots and lots of food!!! 

Snow!!! And Candy Cane Rice Bowls? =) 

Fireworks!!! 

Inside, a fantastic Christmas village and model trains. 

This really makes me miss our Christmas Village. Maybe this week I'll share some pics of ours if you'd like to see it. 

Pepsi? Blech. ;) 

Coca Cola Bear (probably not)

The Ice Slide!!!

​Maybe next year they'll have a loop. ;) 

Let's check out the rides!! 

Be sure to bundle up if you are attending, it's been quite chilly the past few nights here in Southern California. 

Thanks again to WinterFest for having us out and to Scott and Buffy for attending for us. So glad you had fun. 

Be sure to check out all the details on Winterfest here. The event runs through January 3. 

Last weekend we were invited out to opening night of the LA Zoo Lights to take in the holiday fun. In the second year of it's re-introduction to Southern California the event still brings the holiday cheer while making some much needed improvements to prevent bottle-neck's throughout the zoo. 

Written by Gregg Condon

Welcome to the LA Zoo Lights

Ready to flip the switch

Christmas in Southern California ... =)

The lights are beautiful

One of the improvements this year is a night tour of The Lair

Musical Flaming O's

One of the biggest improvements this year was moving the elephant light show to a much bigger area to improve the bottleneck that was created last year. 

​Be sure to check out the video of the show below. 

Disco Christmas

Love the tunnel of lights

Be sure to check out LA Zoo lights now through Jan 3

Be sure to enter our contest (details above). We'll also be at the "Reindeer Romp" this Sunday so we'll be checking out all of the daytime holiday fun at the Zoo. 

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Happy Holiday's everybody. This week is the start of the craziest month of the year for most of us. Lots of holiday events, parties, sending out cards, buying gifts for loved ones, gift exchanges and year-end festivities. 

It's a great time of year, but it's also a time of year to think about others and give back. 

Today is the national "Day of Giving", a day when we are to encourage people to give to charity and help out their fellow man. This is a great thing, and is something we encourage all of you to do. 

Many corporations are doing "matching" donations in honor of the Day of Giving, so be sure you are looking to see where your giving could have the most impact. In addition, many employers (mine included) do a "match" for charitable donations throughout the year. 

Today we are also announcing that ALL of our site revenue for December will be donated to the amazing Give Kids The World. 

Click to make a donation to Give Kids The World today. 

If you donate to GKTW today (Tuesday December 1), an anonymous donor is matching your donation up to $50,000. So lets make sure GKTW hits that $50,000 total for today. This is a charity that is near and dear to our hearts around here. Information on the Day of Giving event is below. 

We have one day for giving thanks. Two days for getting deals. And one day for giving back.
#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving where people from all over the world give to their favorite charities.
Together, we can make a difference in the lives of children with life-threatening illnesses.
On this day only, your donation will be matched up to $50,000 by an anonymous donor which means you can DOUBLE your impact!
Happy Holidays and Happy #GivingTuesday!

In addition, below are some of the great charities that are near and dear to us, even if you can't give of your hard earned money, find a way to donate some of your time to help. 

All of these charities need volunteers for one thing or another. There are also walks offered by pretty much all charities now and are a great way to stay fit while giving something back. 

Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Alzheimer's Disease Resource Center

Today (December 1) is also World's Aids Day, so here are a couple of great charities in honor of that. 

Broadway Cares
Until There's a Cure

Thanks for all of your support for our site and hope you have a great holiday season and a happy New Year. 

Gregg, Chris, Matt and RD. 

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