Christmas Lights!

Wednesday night we got to do something that I've wanted to do for four years. This is the first time that we were actually able to go (whether it was do to bad weather, a child in the CVICU like last year or being pregnant, our house being on the market and trying to move to Birmingham in 2010). But even this year had its challenges, our Christmas lights excursion got rescheduled no less then three times, but as the saying goes, "third times a charm..." well, let me just say, I was certainly charmed!

I've heard all about Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs and its one of those things that I've been really wanting to do, so when the stars aligned and the weather more than cooperated, I was thrilled to say the least! And getting to do it with friends was just the cherry on top!

We left town late afternoon and grabbed dinner at the Purple Cow in Hot Springs before heading to the Garden. We were quite the posse as we trailed into the restaurant. I'm so glad that Carol thought to call ahead and forewarn them…they would certainly need it with our party of 8 adults and 14 kids. It's starting to get easier to eat out with friends, now that we can put the kids at one table and the adults at another. But lets just say that our Emerson and the Helmick's Sophie were neck-n-neck going through the styrofoam cups. I think at the end of the night the grand total was 6 (3 each)! With Emerson, life is just a little intense, he does everything with such gusto and lots of volume. Ya know what I mean--- "MOM I NEED SOME KETCHUP", "MOM-I NEED MORE HOTDOGS", "MOM-MY SHIRT IS ALL WET", "MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM"….you get the idea. We did enjoy our meal then we did the obligatory diaper changes and potty break then we were off.


As we arrived, I could tell it was going to be a treat, and it truly did not disappoint.


We decided to try and get a kids group shot right off the bat because thats always the best time, you never know how the evening will end or what kind of mood they'll all be in at the end. They were very agreeable and this is the best we could get. The kids were amazed by the lights and had a great time walking through the Garden.




The lights were really spectacular…I enjoyed them immensely!





It was A-MAZ-ING how they wrapped each and every branch of the trees with lights!


It was fun experiencing the magic of the lights with friends.


Unfortunately "all good things must come to an end". As the evening drew to a close, this was what we ended up with as our commemorative family photo. Thanks for not disappointing Garvan Gardens, we'll definitely be back to see you!