Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas to All!


This has been a wonderful holiday season for our family. With Monkey and Buddha being 4 and 2 now, they are able to play with each other well (and fight sometimes too) and enjoy more of the same things. In the days leading up to today we made time in our busy schedules to attend the Fantasy of Lights in Los Gatos, CA. You get to stay in your car, which is a big bonus and drive through a sponsored winter wonderland of lights. With your car tuned to a certain radio station, Christmas music fills the air of your warm and toasty vehicle as you fall in line in a parade of cars seeing the lighted sights.

The entrance to Fantasy of Lights


Brontosaurus feasting on a plant

The volcano complete with sound effects


The Buddha in his pj's with his Mickey


The Monkey in his pj's, a 3 yr veteran of Fantasy of Lights

The great thing is the kids can wear there pj's, my hubby was too and I was in sweats and no make up. You can just head out to enjoy this without getting "ready". The kids had snacks and drinks. I had a to-go cup with eggnog. It sort of reminds me of the whole drive-in movie experience and how easy and convenient it is to be self contained!


Nutcrackers

We also went to a local amusement park which used to be family-owned until the city took it over. Gilroy Gardens is small and has beautiful grounds and great rides mostly for younger kids like mine. All the trees were decorated and lit up. It truly was a winter wonderland!!



Buddha got to meet Snoopy but not so sure he liked him
Walking under a canopy of giant lit candy canes
The great thing is that most of the rides were open, except for the big rollercoaster. At this time of the year, it isn't crowded because its cold and its night time, so lines were minimal. We met up with my cousin and his family, and my parents went (Chip was working) as well as my cousin's parents. The kids all had a blast. There was even a Peanuts show. It was adorable, complete with singing and dancing and they let the kids come down to the stage to meet Snoopy. It was a mob scene, I felt like Justin Bieber was in town. Monkey got right in there and gave Snoopy a big hug. Too bad my photo of them hugging turned out blurry as my camera was slow to focus, but I will never forget how excited he was to hug Snoopy!


Peanuts Christmas Show
At the end of the night there was an amazing fireworks and laser light show set to Christmas music. The kids were out way past their bed time but we wouln't have missed it for anything. I was pretty impressed with the quality of the decorations and the light/fireworks show. We will definitely do this again next year!

Our lives are busy but we have to remind ourselves why we do it all, its for our family. We work hard, and we are often rushing to get the kids to bed, to school, off to the next birthday party or event. Even though we should try to do it more often I am glad that we take the time to stop and enjoy the company of our family during the holidays. I just love it.

What special things did you do with your family this year? Hope you all had fun! It's all about being together!!!

5 comments:

  1. Looks like a great time and great lights! Hope you and your family had a great Christmas! Xoxoxo

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  2. Lovely Lights, Looks like you guys had a wonderful time. :)

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  3. What an awesome experience! That makes me all warm and fuzzy! We have yet to establish a real family tradition, as Wee 'Burb is only 1.

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