You'd Better be Good for Goodness Sake!!!

On 12th November, I blipped the Sea and Air Rescue Helicopter from HMS Gannet out on a mission. This is the other side of their life. The fun and not scary part of it.

Today in Troon is Wintertainment. Today is the day Santa arrives, and our Santa, (because we know that Santa has many selves, each one a magic copy to help him with all his PAs) arrives in a Sea King Helicopter, courtesy of The Royal Navy (Swoon), and Troon Coastguard(yay, the good guys).

I cannot tell you how magical this is. When the children were younger it was heart bursting. The sheer excitement of the little ones as they jump up and down in anticipation of his arrival. The screaming as the helicopter dips low past us to wave hello, the panic of the parents as the helicopter lands not 40 feet from us, and you are trying to hold back the littlest most excited human beings in the world.

The sheer number of people converging on the beach is jaw dropping. Families with little ones are spotting trailing along the north beach from 11 am onward. The town looks like a one-way ant hill, with every person heading beachward.

We almost didn't make it on time today, it's always a manic rush. There would have been no risk of us missing it when the children were smaller. That would be almost as bad as not leaving a carrot out for the Reindeer.

Thanks to Gran and the Trusty Granmobile, we got there in plenty of time, and plonked ourselves on a bench to wait.

The anticipation in the air is amazing, and when the first person spots the helicopter appearing in the air over Prestwick, the children go crazy. The pilot always dips low over the crowd, and dips his nose to us. Everyone waves to Santa; I wave to the Navy Pilots. Always have always will.

The lifeboat sits off shore, it adds a nice backdrop, but I know they are there in case Santa falls out the helicopter. The RNLI collect Santawhen he is dropped off, pop him in to a RNLI Rib on the back of a Truck and trail him off around town.

The town was alive, as the Troon Business Association encourages all the shops to open on the Sunday, and they mostly all are. All decorated to the hilt, offering glasses of mulled wine and mince pies, or sweeties.

This year, we had the added bonus of a Hog Roast, in the main street (all the shop keepers were complaining about the queue blocking the shop entrances), Roasted Chestnuts, and Owls!.

Not entirely sure what part of Christmas the Owls cover, but they were lovely, and very happy to be petted, and didn't appear too stressed by the hoards of people around them.

There was also a fairground set up in our car park. A ghost train, a sick making ride, big inflatable balls you could sit inside and float around in a little paddling pool!

We left Gran and Nant after a stroll around, and let them go home. Tooli went off with her mates, and Si and I retreated to the pub. , where we part-took in a cheeky little pint and a half, or two, and discussed putting the world to rights!

Eventually we walked back down into the town, and watched Santa, the Provost and the Fayre Queen turn on the three Christmas lights. , and then laughed to ourselves as the stand-by council workmen, quickly drove round the meagre light allowance, trying desperately hard to get the bulbs working!

Last Stop of the day, was the town Beacon, where Carol Singing was underway, and Santa was there to lead a chorus of Jingle Bells! I grabbed a quick snap of him, before we headed for the train back home.

Nice Day. Nice Warm feelings! Lovely! But still too bloody early for Christmas!