Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Big Kids at the Festival of Lights

Yesterday Baby Boy and I drove into town, which I rarely do, and ended up spending the entire day out and about.

We started out with our homeschool group Game Day. Let me tell you, there is nothing more heartwarming than listening to 10 to 15 teenagers playing board games and drinking hot chocolate making so much noise that the Moms almost have to leave the room. They played Apples to Apples, I Doubt That, and some other made up games that only they know the rules to. We Moms had fun too sitting and chatting and not worrying about where our children were or what they were doing, because we could see them right there.

After Game Day, we went out to lunch and had some delicious Mexican food. More teenage noise. We Moms wanted to relax and enjoy our lunches, but the kids forced us to hurry it up because they wanted to walk over to the park (which is really just a field) so they could toss the Ultimate disc around a little bit. Once again, we Moms were regulated to a park bench to sit and watch the whole shebang. Baby Boy has a little bit of a chest cough, so somehow he managed to convince the entire group that standing still and playing catch would be way more fun than a full out game of Ultimate Frisbee. Luckily for him because, I told him that if he started running, diving and jumping . . . he would be homeward bound. I don't want him getting a full-on chest cold the week of Christmas.

Finally, we took another walk to the holiday Festival of Lights. It was so beautiful and such a fantastic time. We parked about a mile away so that we could 1) have free parking, 2) not get gridlocked by all of the traffic, and 3) leave whenever we wanted to. It was a stroke of genius, if we do say so ourselves. It was a lovely brisk night, perfect for a nighttime stroll to the park. We all had a great time looking at the lights and listening to the various holiday music. There were local bands around every corner performing their various interpretations of the holidays. Long live diversity!

After we had looked at all the lights, the kids actually took over the play scape including the swings, slides, castle and moat. It's a good thing that it was dark outside or I'm sure we would have encountered dirty looks from the preschool Moms. I guess something about it being dark made everything more exciting and "teenagery" because they all let loose and had a great time. It was so funny to watch, because, as the Moms of teenagers know very well, they spend so much time acting too cool to move or speak that it's rare to see them run, jump, play and just let loose. It did all of our hearts a lot of good and we ended up spending an extra hour or so there after we had finished with the festival just watching our teen group play freeze tag, king of the castle and other childlike games. Hilarious!

We came home and had a delicious barbecue chicken dinner prepared by our very own Mom #2. I'm so sorry she missed the good time, but I am glad she had that hot delicious dinner waiting. After all of that fun, we were ravenous for a good meal.

We had such a fabulous day! With Baby Boy growing up so fast and many of the students in our homeschool group making college plans (although we Moms are seriously planning on holding things together as a homeschool alumni group since most of our teens will be doing time at the community college before actually going away to school), I get a little nostalgic as I know days like this will be fewer and farther in between.

Don't get me started on Christmas just yet. Apparently our Thanksgiving dinner was such a roaring success that we are recreating the event two more times, once for a Christmas Eve dinner and another big gathering on Christmas Day. I really need a nice, low key, immediate family only day to get me ready to deal with the hustle and bustle of gift wrapping, cooking, cleaning and . . . more cleaning. I guess today will have to be that day . . . all the rest starts tomorrow.



Happy Holidays to all of you!



Until next time . . .


10 comments:

Teacher Tom said...

Holy cow, what beautiful photos. Sounds like an amazing time!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I just love pictures of lights at night! I think it's neat you're going to keep your homeschool group going even though the kids are older. I hope our group is able to grow closer and do the same. Happy Holidays to you all!

Jennifer in Vancouver said...

That sounds like a wonderful day! Sounds like you and Baby Boy are part of a really close-knit community.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas - and hope you manage to get a bit of quiet time before the madness begins!

Obi-Mom Kenobi said...

Those lights are amazing. I wish we had something similar around here. I'd love walking around looking at twinkling lights - even if I had to wear snow gear to do it.

karisma said...

Wow, thats some light show. Sounds like a great day out. Your group sounds wonderful. My friend and I were just talking yesterday about how important it is to have that type of network with homeschooling as we tend to be so busy that we sometimes forget to keep up with our friends. The group kind of forces us out of the house to mingle as we make it regular for the kids sake. It is also great for us mamas though isnt it? I know I would be pretty lost without our group.

Hope you all have a wonderful, joyous and funfilled holiday season.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Ami said...

Lovely photos! I need to get out and look at the lights this year. Maybe while Mom is here.

So your turkey (ha ha typoed 'turdkey' at first) was such a success that people are descending upon you again, huh?

Well, good luck with it. Hope all is calm and merry and bright.

:)

Anonymous said...

How beautiful! We used to visit something similar back home.

I hope Christmas Eve and Day are fun-filled. I also wanted something low-key with my immediate family, but instead we are going to a party tonight and one on Christmas Day.

However, I figure next year we can have a quiet one at home.


Hope you have a beautiful holiday!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Totally amazing light. Sounds ike a great time.

My sister and I had a, umm, discussion about age appropriate for playgrounds and DS is only 7 so I can only imagine by the time he's a teenager. Perspectives sure do change as they age, hmm.

Have a wonderful holiday, but, maybe don't make the family too jolly ;-).

Anonymous said...

A day to watch teenagers frolic and flirt and forget they are teenagers sounds like heaven to me...especially with all those incredible holiday lights to enjoy at the end!! LOVELY!! Enjoy your busy holidays!!

michelle said...

WOW - Those photos are amazing!!!
I hope that you all have a very wonderful Christmas and New Years!

Michelle

Related Posts with Thumbnails