Last night we went to Zilker Park and the Trail of Lights. I thought it would be fun - but little did I know how big an event it is! For those who know what the Seattle Center is like during Bumbershoot or Folk Life, I now know that Austin's equivalent is Zilker Park festivals (after all, we do host ACL and SXSW). We got there almost two hours before they opened the gates, and still there were throngs of people. We parked, walked, and found a place to eat (most of the sit down restaurants had a 1-2 hour waits so we just got burgers, fries (and peppermint + chocolate milkshakes!) at P. Terry's, and then got in line. I think we entered the trail around 7:30pm. It was one mile of millions of lights and all sorts of fun characters and set ups including The Grinch, Charlie Brown and Co., Winnie the Pooh and Co., Dora, The Chipmunks, synchronized trees to music, etc. etc. etc. We enjoyed live bands and stepping on each others' toes :) We had our double BOB stroller, one baby in arms (and ergo), one toddler in stroller, and one kid in a backpack - plus I brought my camera backpack (heavy) because this was going to be our only chance to see Santa this year! Wow! Jacob and I felt like pack mules! We had brought jackets and things, thinking it would be chilly - but no, this is Austin! We were nice and toasty in our t-shirts :) It's supposed to be 77 degrees today. I like how the air is slightly crisp in the evening - some evenings, it's chilly - but mostly, the weather is just fantastic. People here look forward to this weather all summer long :) Anyway, we've had a few sick days around here so had to be flexible with our advent and one of the sick days was the day we were going to see Santa. So, I was happy we could see him tonight. Last year, Aspen completely FREAKED out. This year, she saw that her friend was so happy and excited to see Santa that she was feeling pretty excited herself. She practiced over and over. I said "What are you going to say when Santa asks 'Now, what do YOU want for Christmas?'" and she said "I would love a baby ballerina doll". Then, we were in line to see Santa, and she got nervous, but she was still brave. She marched up there with Daddy and her baby sister, and she ended up sitting on Daddy's lap, and having him do the talking - but she didn't cry or run away. Hazel was one of the most popular "lights" at the event - wow she had a lot of admirers! None too shy, either. During Santa, she got to sit on Mrs. Claus' (aka Jessica if you've ever seen the old movie "Santa Claus is Coming to Town") lap - and she just stared right up at her and looked around with her big, wide eyes. It was cute. I was a little sad, because Sawyer was still a bit under the weather and had no desire to jump up and go sit on Santa's lap. Poor kid. I told him we can leave a note for Santa to let him know what his Christmas wish is this year (can you say STAR WARS!?!) We finally made it through the trail of lights and then walked over to the huge "tree" made of lights. It was of course a magical evening. I absolutely love the secular part of Christmas. Is that bad to admit? I don't think so...because in all honesty, everywhere I look - I am reminded of Christ, even in all the fun "non-spiritual" parts - I mean - LIGHTS.
HE is the LIGHT of the WORLD.
I love lights and the symbol they are of Christ and Christmas.
Happy Christmas "Adam" everyone! I can hardly believe tomorrow is already Christmas Eve! So much fun!
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