Traditon # 2: The Christmas Light Adventure

Now I know that going to look at Christmas lights is something that almost every family does during the Christmas season. I don't claim that this is unique to our family! We do have a certain way that we do things each year, though, that makes this tradition special to our family.

First--Pajamas! (Don't worry--Matt and I wear our regular clothes!) Second, hot chocolate for Matt and the kids and coffee for me. Then it's time to load up the van.

Here's Nathan, hot chocolate in hand, all ready to go!



Lydia seems just a little sheepish about getting into the van in her pajamas, but she graciously consents to having her picture made.

Lily has no clue why she's getting in her carseat when she should be getting into her bed, but if we're happy, she's happy!

OUR FIRST STOP ON THE CHRISTMAS LIGHT ADVENTURE!

Yes, my friends, that is what you think it is. The "hot now" sign at Krispy Kreme. And not just any Krispy Kreme. This is the very spot where Elvis got his doughnuts. Nothing goes better with hot chocolate than a nice, warm doughnut!

This blurry picture is of the lights at Graceland. It's not the best part of town, so we didn't slow down long enough to get a good picture. Besides, neither of us has a huge affinity for Elvis Presley. They do put up a lot of lights and a huge Nativity every year (go figure), and it's just up the road from Krispy Kreme, so we drive by every year just to say we've done it.

Now that we've gotten our dougnuts and seen Graceland, it's time to check out the Christmas decorations. Several years ago, I told Lydia and Nathan that when they saw Christmas lights, they should call out "Merry Christmas!" This was when Nathan was very small, and the best he could do was "Bevvy Kwistmast!" He's big enought to say it right this year, but I have to admit that I miss that little voice piping up "Bevvy Kwistmast" from the back seat. In fact, whenever we see Christmas decarations now, they both say, "Look, they have their Merry Christmas up," or "They have a lot of Merry Christmas at their house!"

Now that I've written all this down, it doesn't seem like a very big deal. But there's a lot of excitement at our house on the day we know we're going to get dougnuts and look at Christmas lights. I hope that one day, the kids will come home from college for Christmas and ask when we're going to take our Christmas light adventure. But if they still want to do it in their pajamas, I'll be a little worried.