Saturday, December 10, 2011

Capturing December | Day Nine

Christmas Light-Lookin'
We had a ball--cranked up the Christmas carols, belted "Fa La La La La" {in true Griswold style} & beamed when we'd hear a little "Whoa!", "Fun!" & "Lights!" from the backseat. Most definitely my favorite Christmas light lookin' adventure to date.





Christmas In The Park display.
 Jared & I went to this display a few years ago on Christmas Eve with my family in tow & we waited in a line that lasted every bit of 3-4 hours {seriously, what were we thinking?}. By the time we finally made our way to the end of the display to the lights, we were not impressed. We were cranky, crabby, & majorly ticked that we had wasted a chunk of our Christmas Eve staring at the gleam of red tail lights rather than oooing & ahhing over actual Christmas lights. We vowed we'd NEVER go again. 



But then, fast forward a few years & here I am looking at my little one with a twinkle in his eye & excitement in his voice when he sees a simple, straggly bush with lights strung through it & I realize, you just can't hold out on your kid like that. When you know where the light display of all light displays is--you gotta go. 


We went. And I am so glad we did. No line. Lights galore. Magical memories made. 
Moral of the story: never hold out on the good stuff for your kids.


The funny thing is, I think if I loaded up my whole family on Christmas Eve this year & said, "Hey guys! Let's go look at those lights again!", everyone would groan & grumble, but secretly, deep down in our hearts, we'd all actually enjoy it. We still laugh & reminisce to this day about that infamous night where we were trapped inside an S.U.V., bellowing Christmas carols & holding back cuss words towards that darned Christmas light display. We were together. And that's the memory that sticks. Sure, that three & a half hour wait sucked. But the laughter & stories that night gave to us? You can't put a price on those. Want proof? Here's the text between my mom & I last night as Jared, Jett & I were headed to the light display:


Me-- "Guess where we are going right now?" 
Mom--"Santa" 
Me--"Nope--that Christmas light display from Christmas Eve. You remember the one." 
Mom--"Oh, good! Jett will love it. It was worth the wait. You guys were so funny that night." 
See there? The good memories are what stick.



Jett's favorite part of the display--Give a donation, get a Russell Stover's piece of chocolate. Sweet deal!




After the exciting light display, we sat in a corner table at a new local pizza joint, stuffing ourselves full of deep dish pizza, & bribing Jett with a candy cane if he'd just sit still & eat his dinner. On the way home, we looked in the backseat to find a passed out, candy cane coated lipped boy, who I can't help but believe had sugarplums dancing in his head. 


Christmas light lookin' nights just don't get better than that, folks.








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