First of all, I apologize to the delinquency of this post--I've been promising it to my mom for the last 2.5 months. Sorry for the delay!
Ok! So we all know how my favorite thing about Christmas in Chicago is the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza. Last year, I shared with you all the amazing and incredible glass ornaments that we purchased for our tree last year (if you are a new reader to this blog in the last year, please click that link for reference), something that brought me great joy. Well, this year, we were determined to not go hog wild again. We were also determined to get the ceramic boot filled with mulled wine that they have each year, that is usually sold out by the time we make it down. So this year, we went on opening night! We weren't going to let that boot pass us by!
Success!
Remember when Fuzzy had only a mustache?
So anyways, mission number one was accomplished. Last year, we only went into one of the 2 glass ornament houses, so this year we decided to start by going to the other one. If we had missed Jesus-Being-Swallowed-by-a-Dolphin (if confused, see link above) in the other one, surely it was going to be in the "animal" themed house. So in we went. And here is what happened. 
A turtle! I decided that since I can't put tchotchkes on dad's grave any more due to new cemetary ownership, instead I will buy a frog or turtle ornament each year in his memory. New tradition! (pay no attention to my cuticles.) (oops, I just called attention to them.)
Tiny white chicken! Every christmas tree needs a chicken...
...or two. Look at how fancy he is!!
He really makes a fashion statement.
Last year we got a white squirrel, so this year I got him a friend.
Brown Squirrel!
I love clownfish--always have always will--so this was a must.
Fuzzy love raccoons, so this guy was also necessary.
Then we met this guy:
And we couldn't stop looking at him. Or rather, he couldn't stop looking at us. I think he might have actually possessed us and forced him to buy us. When I put them on the tree, I made sure to position it to always be looking at Fuzzy.
We also got a couple that we just thought were cool and pretty:
This photo doesn't do this justice. It is so sparkly and beautiful in the light!
And of course, you know how much we love the Chicago flag.
So we sadly made it through the hut without finding our friend Jesus and the Dolphin. We were disappointed, but it was ok.
We went to pay for this year's bounty, when I spied something behind the register.
There it was! In all its glory! In a special box, even! I asked if we could see it, and we asked the cost. It wasn't terribly expensive, but it also wasn't cheap, but we decided we couldn't go another year without it. Besides, we had a bigger tree this year--we HAD to get it! They told us it was the last one, so it was really meant to be.
Voila! He is ours! Mission Accomplished!
Feeling good about our purchases, we decided we would only waft through the other hut, but not really buy much more. On the way, we saw a booth selling glass wares, and these triangle Santas caught our eyes. They were pretty, yes, but they also looked very demonic, so we decided we had to get the gnarliest looking one: 
ZOMBIE SANTA IS COMING TO GET YOU!!!
Now, we all know that the score of last year was the torso of the bikini man and woman. Well, of course, I needed to get them some friends: 
Check out their white poofs!
Here they all are, hanging out: 
Hey baby...
SO! Here it is! This year's tree! 
Please note the skeleton tree topper.
Of course, just like last year, there were some poor choices made...one that got away, if you will. Let's take a look at the one that we passed by this year. 
Why, look at all those fellas! What's going on with them? 
Oh, dear...is that a penny coming out of his butt? Is that intentional? 
Oh. Yes. Yes it is.
Next year, Money Shitter, you will be mine.
