SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Kids staying inside the Sanford Children’s Hospital are feeling some extra Christmas cheer thanks to a couple across the street that decorate their property with festive inflatables for the holiday.
Pat and Kate Weir keep an area next to their driveway facing the Sanford castle full of inflatables for Christmas, but it’s not the only time of year they help spread some happiness for the kids in the hospital.
The property is never bare during the holidays. From an inflatable Grinch to a snowman to a dinosaur, the Weir’s are always staying festive.
“I guess the first time we did it was last Christmas for the blow-ups, and then we did about every other major holiday,” Pat said.
Including Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Fourth of July, Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“What made us want to continue doing it some of the hospital staff walking by kept telling us, ‘Keep doing those inflatables. The kids love it!’ So we really wanted to do as many seasons as we could,” Kate said.
6-year-old Harper Clausen was in the hospital for the weekend for an infection behind her eye. Her mother Alisha says the kids have enjoyed the display from the hospital windows.
“We just came in here to get out of our room and I said, ‘Oh, Harper, look across the street,’ and she’s like, ‘Oh, look at all those!’ There’s the puppy that goes inside the box and then the dinosaur moves, and we have some inflatables at home, so they really like to see them,” Alisha said.
It helped make up for some of the fun things they were going to do over the weekend.
“We were going to go visit Santa and we were going to do all these other Christmas things that we didn’t get to do because we had to be in the hospital, so I feel like she wasn’t completely missing out when she gets to see this and the Christmas tree that was outside of her room,” Alisha said.
Harper is a big fan of the display.
“It brings me joy,” she said
And she has a favorite inflatable.
“The dinosaur,” Harper said.
And while the Weirs have to maintain the inflatables and make sure they are working right, they say it’s completely worth it for the kids.
“If it takes their mind off of their illness for just a couple minutes, you know, minute or two, then it’s all worth it. Just something to break the monotony of being in a hospital all the time and give them something to look out for and just take their mind off of their troubles,” Pat said.
“We’re glad the kids and their families enjoy it. We have fun putting them up for the kids,” Kate said.
The Weirs are hoping to add Valentine’s Day inflatables for the first time. They may also expand into doing some more lights in the future as well.
