Luminaria Anniversaria

Our actual anniversary (the December one) was great this year. Beth and Jonny wanted to go see the new Luminaria display at Thanksgiving Point. However, when browsing the calendar, we didn't have ONE free night. (Thanks Bea Jo.) Well, we had reserved the night of our anniversary for something, so we decided that something should be Luminaria. Why not?

We included dinner and made it a night out. We had a bit of a problem with dinner. Tyler wanted a steak and so we made reservations at Ruby River. They had a new thing on their website where you reserve a table online. Great. But when we arrived, they had no knowledge of any reservation. They admitted that the online reservations didn't always work correctly, and even with a verification email we showed them, they weren't willing to bump us up on the waiting list. Forty minutes was too long to wait since we had a reservation time at Luminaria, so we skipped it. No steak for Tyler. (In fact, we may not visit Ruby River for a long time. Tyler does not take kindly to poor customer service.)

Luckily, they put in 3 million places to eat over at Thanksgiving Point, so we had plenty of variety to choose from. I chose Cubby's because it sounded good and it was one of the best burgers I have ever had. (Good choice me.) The fries were pretty killer too. (Sorry I didn't share more Tyler.)

Then we were off to see the Lumiaria. Bethany was able to get some tickets at a discount price, which is nice because it it pricey to go. The Hulse's actually bought our tickets for us as an anniversary present. (You guys rock!) I coined a new phrase, HA! It stands for Happy Anniversary. The evening was sprinkled with Ha HA Ha, which only reminded me how lucky I am to be married to an amazing man for 17 (official) years now.

It was a cold night and our event was outdoors so we dressed for the weather. Luckily no snow.

The gardens are open year round and are very large. There are many places you can wander. For this event, there was a guided path that you stayed on. The first stop was the Poinsettia House. I liked the Poinsettia balls that hung above.

Jonny took a picture for us...of himself.

Then he took a real picture for us. I'm holding up my hand to show off the luscious gloves Beth let me borrow. My hands would have been frozen without those.

Luminaria is quite the experience. They clearly have gone to a lot of work to put it together. It is simply amazing. There are special light displays throughout the gardens. Most of the areas are labeled. This was the Peppermint Forest? There are even smells in certain places. Here you could smell the peppermint as you walked through.

I don't remember most of the names, but this clearly is the Colorful Canopy.

There were photo op areas everywhere you looked. We chose to take a pic inside the light tree. (There was a name for it too. Can't remember.)

And of course by the mistletoe. Ahhh.

The Light of the World Garden was awesome. I haven't been to the gardens for a while. Last time I went (2015), they had mostly small statues of Christ. I didn't realize they were a preview for larger statues to come. Now, the entire area is filled with life size depictions of scenes from Christ's life. It was superb. Add a whole bunch of lights and it was a favorite area.

We didn't take many pictures there (I wasn't in charge of the camera anyway. I couldn't work one with those gloves on) but you can see this depiction of Christ walking on water and almost some of the other vignettes in the background. I definitely want to come back in the spring and check it out.

There was a huge area for roasting s'mores and such. We skipped on through. Over by the waterfalls, they had blue lights in place of water. This scene ended up looking quite psychedelic.

There was a gigantic snowman over on the Frosty Lane or was it Flaky Forest? (Seriously, I can't remember any of the fun names.) We took a selfie with him. Almost makes him look normal sized.

One of the coolest things was the hill of lights. There were so many small luminaries. They changed colors and made designs and zinged along with the music. You could sit and watch for hours.

We didn't because it was quite chill. I would love to take the kids next year. It was worth seeing for sure. Thanks again Hulse's for taking us. We came home and played games for just a bit. One of our new favorite games is Speak Out. It leads to lots of drool and plenty of laughs. This video of Jonny makes me cry all over again. HA!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

When asked what we needed to do this season, one child requested the White Elephant Bingo party. We did this for the first time last year and had a pretty good time. I felt like I probably needed to let everyone invite friends and not just June, but that leads to a LOT of kids in the house at one time. Plus, with different ages, you never know quite what to expect..

June made the invitations and as a reminder to myself, we need to put on there that people should bring an unwrapped White Elephant gift. It is very traditional for gifts to be wrapped, but for this activity, you want to see them all before you choose. We had to unwrap several people's gifts as they arrived, which is a little weird. But it all worked out. We moved into Midguard this year since we needed the extra space. You can see our table of gifts and children clustered around the coffee table.

We also had a full crowd around the dining room table as well.

Last year we had M&Ms as markers, but it seems the holidays are overly sweet, so I had the genius idea to use cheerios. They were eaten in droves and I didn't have to feel too guilty about sugaring kids up and sending them home.

Marinn and Brooke were our first Bingos. Remember, everyone got a prize eventually, and some people got extra candy. I believe Jane had the bad luck this year. I think she was one of the very last Bingos. (Ivory did much better this year.)

I quickly remembered why we usually do these parties for the older kids. Pearl had one friend in particular who lost interest about ten minutes in. She wasn't naughty or very annoying, but she was all over the place. Sophie was kind to keep track of her card so she could eventually get a Bingo. After Bingo was over we put on a movie to entertain the littles. (It mostly worked. Daisy and company dutifully watched, but Pearl et al. were still on the move most of the time.)

Ivory and her age group started up a game of Wise and Otherwise. I supervised at that table and played with them. Ivory told me I couldn't play because I would win. Turns out she was right...but I tried very hard NOT to win. (Does that count for anything?) Oh...yes, Andru was the only boy who came. Ivory is usually the one who invites a guy.

The bigs were busy in the other room and thank goodness for Tyler and the camera or we would have no pictures. I think they played Spoons, Murder in the Dark, and Caveman Telephone.

Another success. It is always crazy when we have a house full of noise and commotion, but I think it is important for the kids. I hope they have good memories of parties at our house.

Virginia sent us a box of goodies. We always love opening her box. This year there were gingerbread houses. I have a strict NO gingerbread houses rule, but that doesn't include gifts given. I told the kids that I wasn't going to be in charge in any way and they could go to town. (I know I am a scrooge when it comes to gingerbread houses, but I don't understand them. They are so hard to make and then what do you do? Either eat it and feel sick...too much candy. Or don't eat it, and waste the food. It is a strange tradition in my book.)

The kids were happy to work on them and do the best they could. Virginia got a little village with four houses and a separate dog house. It was perfect for the kids. They were tricky but I think the kids got along fine, helped each other, and were proud of their efforts. I think June's was the only house that didn't stay together. She ate hers before I got a picture.

It was funny that the dog house was a separate kit, so it ended up being as big as the houses. That is one puppy who is living in style. I'm really proud of all the finished products. Thanks Virginia for making the holiday a little sweeter.

Perform Your Heart Out

I'll tell you right up front here, that you may not care much about this post unless you are a Grandma. Down below are pictures (many blurry) of my kids performing in untold numbers of concerts, etc. You are welcome to peruse the assortment and cringe a little for us having to get to so many events during this busy season, but most likely, only Grandmas will be interested in the details.

Seriously though, five kids makes for a lot of hopping back and forth. Some days we had multiple events to attend. (I'm impressed with Tyler for getting to all the important ones, often during the middle of the day.)

I thought about putting these in order of child, but I finally caved and went with chronological, because that is the order they are on my phone. Let's start at the very beginning...it's a very good place to start.

The first performance doesn't even involve my kids, unless you count that I took one of them with me. I know a few people in the High School Ballroom company, so I got tickets and took Robyn. It was a very cool performance, if not a little long. Everyone did such a great job.

We kept ourselves entertained taking weirdies. (I've dubbed these pictures 'weirdies' since they are like selfies, but stranger.)

We laughed a lot and had a wonderful evening together.

Next up, June had a orchestra concert. Turns out it was also Tyler's work Christmas party. We went and scarfed a delicious meal and came back quickly to hear the concert. The Keen's saved seats for us, but the side I sat on only gave me a perfect view of Hannah.

Ironically, Chris had a better view of June, so he sent me a picture. I also grabbed a picture of June and her stand partner Brooke after. They have a great time in chamber orchestra.

I love when we can get the whole family to an event. We all try to support each other as much as possible.

At the Elementary school, they had a performance called Christmas Around the World. It was truly amazing. All the grades had different songs to sing from different countries. There were a lot of new songs I hadn't heard before. I was running late because I had lunch with Angela before (notice how we cram things in everywhere) and I got there right before it started. It was SO packed. I decided to stand against the wall on the side. Fortuitously, a teacher asked me if I wanted to sit in the front. There were some reserved seats that weren't being used, so I suddenly had killer seats right by where all my kids ended up singing. (Christmas miracles do happen.) Pearl was up first since they had the grades sing in order.

I promise that we had her hair done very nicely before she went to school. (sigh) There was this really cool drum number with yoga balls and hampers. It was pretty sweet. I bet Robyn would have loved it.

Daisy's grade sang several songs. They were all so cute.

Ivory's grade sang and played the recorder.

I got a picture of her at the end.

Luckily, parents left as grades were finished singing, so it wasn't as crowded by the end, but the weather had turned terrible. It was hailing and snowing and raining all at once. I ran to my car parked half a mile away and changed before coming back to pick up the kids from school. Crazy weather.

Pearl had another first grade program. They also do cute unique songs. My favorite was one about wanting a snake and mice for Christmas. (Funny.)

The next day, Daisy had a concert during school. Her Vocal Motion group was also performing in the evening, but we had a concert conflict, so Tyler and I made sure to attend the morning show. Daisy did such a great job. Her 'solo' was really good. Most of the kids you couldn't understand or they were quiet, but Daisy sang perfectly. The teacher had kids sing together, so there is another girl singing with her, but you can't see her. (Daisy is the first singer in the light jeans.)

In the afternoon, Ivory had a small performance for her strings group. They are still new, but doing a great job. She seems to enjoy the cello so far.

In the evening, we had the split concert. Daisy went over for Vocal Motion, and Robyn had percussion. The seventh grade percussionists play with Beginning Band, so we went to the first concert for that. Robyn did a fantastic job. She played Snare Drum in the first piece.

Next up, she was on Temple Blocks to imitate the sound of a clock counting down to Christmas. Mrs. Taylor (the band teacher) told Robyn to play a bit so everyone could hear the sound of the 'clock.' She had the whole audience chime, "Good job, Robyn."

You can see her over there on the right. This is the Beginning Band and they sounded pretty good for beginners.

In the last number, Robyn played Bass drum. It is fun that she gets to do different instruments for each number.

After the first concert, there was a small break, so I ran over to see Daisy and pick her up from her concert. She was near the end, but I got to hear her solo again, and take pictures of the group.

Then back over to see Robyn perform with the percussion group. Their number was amazing. Robyn played Marimba. It was great. (I should have recorded.) The teacher really likes Robyn and feels that she is doing very well. She is putting together groups for competition and Robyn is in a group she calls her 'dream team' made of mostly 9th graders, a few 8th graders and one 7th grader -- Robyn. (Cool huh?)

Almost done. Are you tired yet? We were about performanced out! The last day of school, the elementary kids did a sing. I wasn't going to be able to attend, but it turned out that I was free after all, so I went to see Ivory perform cello again for the school.

I had to laugh because there was an elf contest. Kids were supposed to dress up as elves? I had completely ignored this because we had plenty other things to worry about. They called up the winner from each class, and Ivory was up there. What?

She had dressed festively, but not like an elf I thought, but her class voted her the best. Funny. It was a good end to the busy season. No more performances for a while.

We know why we are so busy though. (Besides five kids.) Bea Jo sent us a Christmas card that said, "May you have more fun activities than you have time for." (What a curse!! It sure worked.) It was a great season and it is a blessing to watch all these kids enjoy and excel at their interests.