Illuminations at the Arboretum

This past Sunday we took Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Gary to check out the Arboretum's new winter wonderland attraction, "Illuminations." And Winter Wonderland it was because luck was on our side- it was so beautifully & perfectly snowy (and still snowing while we there!) making the whole experience all the more magical! Illuminations is a light show displaying "trees in a different light" as it was advertised, but even more than that, you could interact with the lights- sing to a tree and change the light colors, project your image onto a tree, wave your hand and make the colors change on a tree, and even hug a tree to make the lights change colors. It was a fun one-mile hike among trees, glittering snow, and sparkling Christmas lights. And that snow- I can't imagine being there to see this exhibit without snow, because it really did add the perfect touch of magic; the snow was literally glittering as it fell and the lights shone all around, I can hardly describe it well enough to give it justice- it was pretty awesome and amazing.

The kids were excited to interact with the trees and see the Christmas lights. They were super excited to bring Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Gary with us. And since it was snowing, they were really excited to be out in the snow. Of course they were super bundled up and could barely move, but we trekked along just fine. And the night we went was just perfect- not only because of the snow, but also because it was not crowded so we really could be quite leisurely, frozen, but leisurely, and we only had to wait our turn at a couple of the interactive displays for a couple minutes (if that) since the lines were not long; the rest of the interactive displays we were pretty much able to walk right up and do. It was really a great night to be there!

One mile was a tad long for the kids, I will say. Daniel just wanted to hug the tree, which was of course at the end; his attention had wandered a bit before that, but he trudged along and was a great sport- I was so proud of him! Annabel is still young enough to think Christmas lights are just super awesome and magical so she was pretty into the whole thing and she LOVED doing all the different interactive things- she wanted to try everything, she didn't want to miss a thing! It was so cute to watch her that night- things like this are all the more magical with young children. Annabel's expression of awe and joy is something I will never forget.

We all enjoyed our time at the Arboretum! We're so glad we went and super glad we timed it perfectly with the arrival of a few inches of snow. What a wonderful amazing night!

This was our first REAL snow for the season, so of course the kids just had to shovel for a few minutes before we left! I kind of felt bad that we couldn't do more, but it was cold and we were going to be spending a lot more time out in the cold at the arboretum, we didn't want to be totally frozen before we even got there...and besides, this was just the start of it, still a dusting really, but to 2 and 5 year olds, it's still super exciting SNOW!

Annabel just LOVES her new penguin hat, which Daddy bought last Saturday and surprised me with. (Daniel got a monster hat, which he also loves!) Everybody is always commenting on how cute Annabel is in her hat and she is just super proud! The fact that there are giant pom poms on the ends of the strings down from the ears doesn't hurt (you can't see them here- they're tucked into her coat)- she holds on to those oh so cutely!

And we're off on a new arboretum adventure...super bundled up and so excited to have Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Gary to walk around with us!

So many lights to see!

You can maybe tell what I mean by how the snow was literally glittering in the lights! This is my favorite picture from that night!

Annabel, Daniel and Mommy!

These pictures don't do this event any justice...but you get the idea!

Thank goodness for warming pits!

This kid could barely move with all her gear on and she could barely see out of her hat (it is a tad big for her, but man she loves it and it will last her forever!)- she just looked too cute!

Pretty chandeliers hanging in the trees!

Grandpa Gary helps Daniel change the colors of the lights.

Annabel's turn to change the lights!

It's very hard to tell in this picture but the white/gray lights here are projecting Annabel's image onto the trees- you can just make out an arm sticking out with the mittened hand on the right side. It was easy to watch it happening- you could see her movements, she waved one hand, then two hands, and you could see her head moving and all- it was really cool. Annabel LOVED doing this!

This was probably my favorite display- I just loved how the lights shone on this tree's trunk and branches. So cool!

Time to hug a tree!! Both kids really wanted to try this. Annabel was so cute hugging that tree. You can see Grandpa Gary helping out, too!

Daniel was most looking forward to this part of the event! He of course wouldn't look at the camera though!

Another hug!

And of course we stopped to see the neat train exhibit the Arboretum does every year! Since it wasn't busy at all, the kids could get up really close to the exhibit and they got a chance to push all the buttons, too- it was so nice to be there when it wasn't busy!