The Last Two Festive Outings

December was another challenging month for me but I still managed to venture out with the family and enjoy some pretty lights and holiday fun.

We went out to Spanaway again for the Festival of Lights. It's really for the younger kids. Nathan wasn't too thrilled but Riley's always excited to see all these neat lights displays. In the four years that we've been to this they've added maybe two new displays. Riley's favorite is a dragon that breathes out fire and the dinosaurs.
I took only a few pictures but they were very blurry. Night photography is my least favorite. Even if I had a DSLR I don't think my opinion on night photography would change much.

The nice thing about this is that one gets to see all these Christmas lights in the comfort of your car while listening to Christmas music. So we get to stay warm and cozy.



Our last holiday outing was to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue. After three visits here we finally got a perfect spot to view the entire show. This event is fun but it's the people that make it a nuisance sometimes. I can't believe how rude some people are ... they totally lack common courtesy. So that kind of behavior forces one to stand our ground even more vigorously or else you end up getting pushed or taken advantage of. Don't get me wrong, we did come across nice people, it's only the few of them that one needs to watch out for. Aside from that we enjoyed ourselves. It was a cold evening but no wind so that made it somewhat bearable.
Some girls in costume came around and were giving away candy cane flavored lollipops. Riley was happy to have gotten one.

Before the show began though Michael Bennett from the Seahawks showed up in a bike. I'm sure it was a surprise appearance, everyone cheered. So that was cool.
Just as the parade and the performance was about to be over the "snow" began to fall. Riley loved it. He had a blast and he especially loved that his daddy held him for almost the entire time.

Continuing to be involved in tradition amidst extreme trials I believe is necessary for everyone's sake. Distraction or keeping ourselves busy helps tremendously. I'm grateful for all these holiday festivities that we took part in. It helped us even though they were also sad moments and will forever will be.

Spanaway Lights

This was our third year going to see the Christmas Lights at Spanaway. It was my mom and sister's first visit. This event is really geared for the small children since it pretty much looks the same each year.
There are many Christmas events here. I'm drawn to the ones that are less hectic that's why we've made this event a yearly tradition.

This Santa and reindeer display is my favorite ...

Riley was really fascinated by it all.

 .... and one of his favorites displays aside from the dinosaur one is this alien and spaceship display.

It's always fun seeing Riley enjoying himself.

Christmas Festivities

We went to a couple of Christmas events a couple of weeks ago.  It's been raining quite a bit since the beginning of the month. I was so glad that it didn't rain while we were out. This was our third time going to Bellevue to Snowflake Lane and somehow we still missed the live toy soldiers performance. We still got to see several princesses and Rudolph and a few others. Hopefully next year we'll get a good spot and will finally be able to see the actual performance, lol. It's still all good fun though. Riley was loving the "snowstorm".

This event gets very crowded and parking and traffic are a nightmare. It's only once a year so why not.

After it was over we stopped by Pagliacci's for dinner. This has become our go to pizza place in Seattle. It's very very good!

The following day or should I say night we went to see Fantasy Lights. Riley had fallen asleep on our way there but once we began driving through the park we woke him up. So glad he was a good sport and didn't become cranky because we woke him up.

His favorite were of course the dinosaur lights.

And lately he's been into aliens ... he also liked this spaceship light display.

It was a fun weekend even though some things didn't go as planned. We have a lot of fun making festivities/traditions meaningful for Riley. Small children bring so much joy don't they?

Fantasy Lights

Saturday night we drove to Spanaway for their Fantasy Lights drive-through display. But first I changed Riley into one of his Christmas pj's and headed out for the evening. Wanted him to be comfy cozy and in the spirit.

We also came to this last year.

A bit blurry but I had to post it. How fitting, a light display of a volcano erupting, lol.

Riley had fallen asleep on the drive there and we tried several times to wake him but he just wouldn't wake up. He did wake up on his own about five minutes later. Probably from our loud Oo-ing and Aw-ing about all the pretty lights.

The dinosaurs display was by far Riley's favorite. He kept telling everyone to "wook, wook at the dinosaurs!". He even told me to take a picture of one.

He was in awe of all the pretty light displays.

Good thing we got here early because after we were done and exited the park there was a huge line all the way up the street. It was a mess.

After leaving we stopped at McDonald's and ordered ice cream. We didn't dare get out here either. It was crowded everywhere. So we all ate our ice cream in the car on our way home.

*****

Today we spent it mostly at home. Left the house just to run errands and came straight back. Jacob took the boys to the park and shortly after took Sydna out for another test drive.

I had Jacob record Mickey's A Christmas Carol and had Riley watch it. He was glancing at it the first time but didn't really sit down to watch it all. Later in the afternoon he asked me to put it on again. So I did. This time he sat next to me on the couch and watched it.

Ten days until Christmas, wow!

I hope the rest of December goes by slow. Even if I'm having a bad day, week or month I don't ever rush time.

Astonishing how the month of December puts everything into perspective. How one tends to think about everything that happened to us throughout the year. Whether they were blessings or lessons. What comes to my mind is my parents. I thank God for allowing them to be here this year and praying he'll let me borrow them for a while longer. Then I start thinking about Jacob and my kids. I am constantly thanking God for my blessings especially my loved ones. I pray for all of them and I pray for myself ... even harder.

Sometimes all this thinking gets me sad and when that happens I watch one of my cheesy or action movies and I feel much better.

Anyway,
I'm looking forward to tomorrows dinner {chicken and shrimp alfredo, YUM!} and Sleepy Hollow. That Ichabod Crane is one interesting guy. Love love LOVE his wit!

Holiday Outings Conclusion

12.22.12

On the last saturday before Christmas we drove to Olympia to enjoy a couple of holiday festivities. The day was partially cloudy and at times the clouds drifted apart and allowed the sun to do its job. It was only expected to rain during the evening hours. The drive to Olympia was about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Once we exited the freeway we had to drive on some back country road to get to our destination. We saw a couple of mid size communities. The homes were nice. Then we saw way larger homes on their own large piece of land ... now that was so cool to see. Several of those homes were jaw dropping. Blessed people indeed.

Upon researching WA holiday events I came across Lattins Country Cider Mill. I knew this place was something all of us would enjoy. Besides making their own apple cider they also have a country store with delicious jams, pastries, pies, fruits & vegetables ... plus they also have farm animals! They raise their own turkeys and are available to order for Thanksgiving.
Ohmygosh! Ok, it's been in the 40's during the day since we moved here and I'm sure it was in the low 40's on this day but since it was very breezy the wind chill definitely made it feel like low 30's. It was COLD! I have no idea what Jacob and Nathan were thinking when they dressed for the day. They are simply nuts to wear shorts when it's this cold.

But this little guy didn't let the cold bother him. We let go of his hand and he was happy as can be. Walking all over the place and checking things out.

Picking up rocks ... as usual.

We saw peacocks, ducks, and other fowl. Sydna and Riley were trying to feed the fowl some grass.

Then it was on to see the goats. As soon as we got close with feed in hand these guys stuck their heads through the fence and couldn't wait to be fed. They eat so much ... bet they are never satisfied.

Riley loved feeding them. He would giggle when one would nibble on his hand. It was so sweet to see. I love to see my children happy and enjoying themselves with the simplest of things ... animals and nature.

Sure, cats and dogs are great but there is just something more fascinating about farm animals. I wish I had more opportunities to be around them. It's such a great learning experience for kids ... and by being around animals they practice their emotional skills and learn how to be a good friend.

Once the goat feed was gone we walked around the farm for a bit but rapidly walked to the country store to warm up. We were frozen. Couldn't feel our noses, toes, or fingers. And as cold as we were not one of us said anything negative about the cold weather. After all, it is winter right?

They had a good selection of pastries and apparently they are famous for their apple fritters. Unfortunately they had run out and were in the process of making more but we couldn't wait ... we had other plans to tend to and needed to leave. After purchasing several pastries and a dutch apple pie we were on our way to downtown Olympia.

Even though it was freezing we had fun. We love farms! And this is definitely a place that we will visit on several occassions.

While driving through Olympia and seeing several neighborhoods, shops, and restaurants we all agreed Olympia had a cozy feel to it. The majority of the homes that we saw were older homes but they were in established neighborhoods and that tends to give that cozy comfortable feeling. Even Sydna felt the same way and once we hit their downtown we liked it more even though it was more diverse ... as downtowns tend to be.

It was well past lunch time by now. As we were driving by we noticed a guy eating a NY style pizza that he had folded in half. It looked so good as he took a bite and had stringy cheese dangling off of it. Not sure if he saw us but if he did he was probably weirded out seeing a car full of dorks starring back at him. We were hungry and we are BIG time pizza lovers. So we actually drove around the block from where we thought he had walked from and we found the pizza joint. Score!

This place is right up my alley. Decorated in nothing but 80's memorabilia and of course playing 80's music. Bananarama came on as we sat down. I saw a picture of Johnny and headed straight to that wall to take a picture. How can I not! but ... what is it with unicorns? I could care less about them but I know of some people that think they are just the greatest creatures. Must be a hippy thing. Totally not into that sort of thing.

Given that we're a little afraid, ok, a lot afraid about giving Riley anything but bite size pieces of whatever he eats and given that cheese is stringy and sometimes very chewy and could be difficult for a toddler/kid to eat let alone swallow -we have yet to give Riley pizza SO Jacob had noticed a mexican restaurant across the street and went to buy Riley some food. Here he his waiting for daddy to get back.

The little guy happy to be eating ... and I'm happy to have him busy doing something other than trying to climb over me or trying to sit on the table.

The pizza was quite good. Totally had two slices with lots of crushed red peppers and parmesan cheese ... and even had a coke refill. Never one to be ashamed about good pizza. Too bad there's not an Old School Pizzeria by where we live.

We had one last place to visit. After eating we got back on I-5 N and drove 33 minutes to Spanaway, WA for their 16th annual Fantasy Lights at Spanaway Park. I read it's the largest drive-through Christmas lights display in the Northwest. It went from 5:30-9:00pm. The cost wasn't bad either. $13 for a car load but I found and printed a $3 off coupon. We stopped at McDonalds for some coffee. When we're out and I want regular coffee we always go to McDonald's for some. I don't like Starbucks or Dunkins coffee of the day because they typically drip stronger coffee {I prefer to brew my own dunkin medium roast original blend at home}. So while we waited for the park to open we enjoyed our coffee with the pastries that we had bought earlier in the day at the Country Mill Farm. There was a light drizzle by then.

Riley had fallen asleep on our way to the park ... good thing too because we got to the park a little early and had to wait in line along with lots of other cars that had also arrived early. However, we didn't wait that long. We waited about 15 minutes then they began letting cars in.

Right after we paid I woke Riley up. Didn't want the little guy to miss out. Surprisingly he didn't get mad when I woke him. He began pointing at all the neat lights and kept saying "wights wights".

There were near 300 light displays, placed on both sides of the park which made it challenging at times. They were all so neat that I didn't know which direction to look first, lol. I think we were going slower than the norm as I wanted to take pictures of the ones that I liked best.

My two favorite ones where the gingerbread house with the candy canes and the dragon placed near the lake.

The day was fun. We all enjoyed the mill, pizza and the lights. The kids were good. They didn't argue at all and Riley was good too ... for the most part.

My possessed cat, lol.

It's paying off. The way we've been raising them. It all started when they were little and understood the severity of being grounded. Before leaving the house I would tell them to behave. No whining, raising their voice, etc. or else they would get grounded which pretty much meant taking away things they liked most. With Sydna it was a bit more challenging because she has always had a passion of reading so it's not like if I could take her books away ... anyway, I would ground her by having her take an earlier shower and be in bed an hour early, or no weekend sweets... oh, she hated that. Bottom line ... I do think my kids behave themselves quite well when we're out, it's when we're at home that sometimes they roughhouse and Nathan always ends up getting hurt and starts crying then the blaming game begins. That's all part of life ... and I'm ok with it because pretty soon, as fast as times goes by it'll be me and Jacob once again ... growing old together and more than likely assisting our kids with raising theirs. I'm excited for that chapter of our lives. For now, I am cherishing the season we're in, the fun happy times, and learning from the bad times.