Our Favorite Christmas Tradition 2009

We (somewhat) pulled it off again!

Our kids had a very sneaky suspicion about what was coming. They've been driving us crazy for the last few days wondering when we were going to look at lights. They're also getting older and resisting bedtimes more, so it's difficult to put them all to bed and get them up out of bed to surprise them with our annual Christmas Light-seeing. We typically wait until they've been in bed for about 30 minutes. This year we were struggling to get them out of their showers in time to catch the lights before they shut them down at 11. After the 2 big kids were cleaned & dresseed, we told them to hustle to the car. Cowboy's mom came in to sit with NoBo, while he slept.

We loaded everyone up with their blankets. We had no time for our normal 7-11 run, but the kids didn't mind.

This was Little I's second time to go with us on our late-night adventure. When we told him we were going to look at the Christmas lights, he asked, "What are they going to do for us?" I love this age! Apparently he'd forgotten all about looking at lights last year.

Once we were at the light display, we let the kids unbuckle. Little I was hysterical! He was WOUND UP!!! I think we had just as much fun giggling at his silliness as we did oohing and aahing over the lights. I love having the age range we have with our kids. The joy that Miss B & C-Man get from their younger brothers makes my heart smile.

I'm thinking next year we'll need to do this on a schoolnight a couple weeks before Christmas so they won't suspect a thing. Whether they were surprised or not, we're still making memories!