Snow and Lights

This morning was our ward Christmas breakfast. The kids were a little freaked out by the change in usual routine. Thomas was upset that he had to get dressed and brush his teeth before he had eaten. You might say that he is a creature of habit. You would be right! I'm not much of a breakfast eater either, but of course we went along to support and enjoyed spending some time with friends.

Enjoying some breakfast

Dawson and Thomas

Some of us weren't sure of the Big Guy

We'll have to see if Santa brings what he wants

After lunch we headed up to Bellevue, running a few errands on the way, which added more time than I had expected. I am always too optimistic when it comes to figuring out how long things will take. The kids got hungry as we made the drive so we stopped off in Southcenter to eat. Some people wanted Chipotle, but Olivia wanted a bagel so we made a run up to Panera and brought it back.


Bellevue Square was our next stop. Since it was nearing 7:00 p.m. we followed the crowd out to Snowflake Lane. There we were able to enjoy some drumming and snow. As the snow fell from the buildings some of us realized that the snow was really just bubbles and were a little disappointed. We had fun anyway and left with some ringing in our ears from standing right next to the podium where the drummers played.

In anticipation

The drummers arrive

Snow!

Happy people

With his girl

Drummer guys walking on stilts

The boys

We couldn't leave the mall without first visiting the Lego Store. Thomas and Olivia spent a good time in there dreaming of what they wanted and putting together little figures. Zach also found what he wanted. He picked up a couple of Thomas the Train duplo sets and put them in the stroller. When I left to pay he came with me. He picked up his purchases and stood patiently in line. We had to leave the store when we told him that we weren't doing that today!


It was starting to get late, but our plan had been to visit the Bellevue Botanical Gardens while we were up in the area. The kids were starting to get a little tired and crabby, but we decided to go with it anyway. Some of our children were a little more vocal than others about their displeasure with our decision. Luckily, that child received a task. He was asked to find all the animals on a sheet of paper he was given and that did the trick. He loves to work through problems. It's that mathematical mind of his.

At the start of the loop

Some of us didn' t like being cold, but

wouldn't wear a hat anyway

Still enjoying the lights together

The lights were beautiful and we had fun strolling the gardens together. I thought that they were almost better than Zoolights and it only cost $5 for all of us. Thanks to the Johnson's for letting us know about it. When we came to the end of the tour we asked one of the volunteers where the animals we hadn't found were. Spense was good to Thomas and took him back to find them. He said that since he had worked so hard it was only fair. I was left to take the other two back to the car. Pushing a stroller with one hand, while holding another child in the other down a hill isn't always easy, but we managed. I only hit the sidewalk once.


The movie managed to keep the kids awake for the ride home. Only Thomas finally gave in with just a few miles left to go. We managed to turn a short trip into a 7 hour adventure, but it was fun to spend some time together getting all Christmasy.