Christmas Lights

Last year after Christmas we went to Williamsburg, and we had so much fun that we decided to go for a repeat. There's a lot to see in Williamsburg, and even after a second trip, I still feel like we need to go back. I'll save the more historical posts for the new year and focus instead one last Christmasy post for 2014.

One of the big appeals of Williamsburg at Christmastime is Busch Garden's Christmas Town. We loved it so much last year that we really wanted to go back.

While the sun was still up we rode the train and a couple of other rides.

Here I ask, "who likes the train?" And Felix replies, "I do!"

Once the sun set we set off to enjoy the 8 million lights. (Yes, that is an accurate number. It's what the announcer told us on the tram ride in.) The park is divided into European countries (and French Canada), which makes for a quaint and other worldly experience

White lights in France.

Fake snow at the North Pole.

The huge Christmas tree in Germany.

Crossing the "Peace on Earth" bridge. I love this part of the park. It's really pretty and the choral music reminds me of my Children's Choral days.

Gold lights in Italy.

Green lights in Ireland.

Christmas Town may be a little over the top, but it's a great way to say farewell to Christmas with a bang. Nate and I were commenting on how well done the music is. They mingle the lights with a lot of classic, instrumental Christmas songs, and the result is really perfect. The crowds were really intense this year, due to the fabulous weather, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Now we have to wait a whole year for Christmas to come again.

Christmas Morning

Beckett was dying to go to bed last night. It was all we could do to get him through the new pajamas and a couple of Christmas stories. So we have no pictures of kids in jamies from Christmas Eve. Beckett did make this note for Santa.

We had some happy kids on Christmas morning.

Almost all of Beckett's requests for Christmas were things that he made up in his mind. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to actually find them, but we did pretty well. The number one request was a boat that could carry trains, and Santa delivered. (I love how Percy's face is peeking out of the ferry.)

Felix got a Spiderman costume and opened a number of presents as Spidey.

Beckett is super into maps right now, and this simple map with stickers was a big hit. Felix is playing with another of Beckett's made-up requests: a book that you can read and play with. When I told my parents that's what he wanted they said, "We know exactly where to find one of those." Hooray for grandparents.

We told the kids that Uncle Taggart gave them the Spiderman shirts. Taggart would be pleased with how into Spidey Felix is.

Time to play with the loot.

A Joyous Christmas!

The Christmas Spirit

We had this great plan. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we were going to go to a tree farm and cut down our Christmas tree. But then, everyone was sick. Well, everyone except for me. So we put off the tree trip to Black Friday. But, on Black Friday, everyone was still sick, except for me. So we put off the tree trip until the next day. Then on Saturday everyone was still sick, except for me and Beckett. I was tired off all these sick people ruining the holiday, so Beckett and I headed out to the Christmas tree farm by ourselves.

It was a beautiful day to find a tree. Beckett and I had taken a preschool field trip to the tree farm, so we felt familiar with our surroundings. The crowds weren't bad at all. We picked up a saw and a cart and headed out to explore. We had a lot of choices.

It's difficult to pick a tree. I knew I wanted a fir tree with enough gaps for hanging ornaments. I have fond memories of the wild mountain White Fir trees we always had as kids, so I wanted as close of an approximation as I could get. I didn't want the tree to be too tall, but it's difficult to tell how big a tree is when you are surrounded by other tall trees.

Beckett was very helpful. He was really worried that we were going to lose our cart. (I kept leaving it while I checked out other trees.)  Beckett didn't want a tree with a lot of bare spots, so we finally settled on one that we both thought looked good.

And I cut it down with the little saw. Beckett took the pictures.

We hauled the tree back to the front of the farm, bought it, strapped it to the car and drove it home. And I felt super awesome because I had just cut down our Christmas tree all by myself.

In it's final decorated state I was extra pleased with this tree.

One day Beckett informed us that the next day there would be a Christmas concert. I came home the next evening to a stage, a curtain, a spotlight, and chairs for the audience. Beckett sang us a variety of made-up Christmas songs. He has really been in the Christmas spirit all December. Felix got involved too wailing away on his harmonica. Then they got me on the stage to help them with some real songs.

We found this house on our way home one evening last week. The house next door had a sign in lights that said "ditto."

Christmas Train

It's time for some Christmas posts around here. A couple of years ago we went up to Strasburg and were pleasantly surprised by the Christmas train. I thought it would be fun to go back now that the kids are older, Beckett is super into Santa, and Felix is super into trains.

Strasburg is fun because you get to ride a real steam train. Beckett was so excited on the way up. It was such a pleasant drive (no so on the way back, but I'll take what I can get).

Here comes our train. As the train drove by Santa was waving to the kids from the train. We hadn't told Beckett that Santa would be there because we wanted him to be surprised. Boy was he. "I didn't know that Santa came from the North Pole to ride this train!"

The Strasburg train is so well maintained. The cars are gorgeous with beautiful woodwork, brass light fixtures, and plush seats. At this time of year they are all decked out for Christmas. Our car had it's own coal stove. It kept us nice and warm.

During the Christmas season musicians come and play and sing in each of the cars. They were all quite good. I think the french horn was made for Christmas music.

 

We passed the other train on our way.

Of course, the big attraction was Santa Claus! Beckett brought him a letter. Felix liked Santa a lot. He even liked him when he was a baby.

Santa brought the boys rainbow slinkys, which were really fun until Beckett spend the last 45 minutes of the drive home hitting Felix with his.

The best part was spending some time all together.

After the train ride we went across the street to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. It's a great train museum. Probably our favorite behind the California State Railroad Museum.

The boys shoveled coal into the firebox.

We were excited to see this geared steam locomotive.

Our Little Engineers