Holiday Happenings

We've been busy little elves this Christmas season. The girls, Peter, Pa and Papa all saw the Zoo Lights on the Friday after Thanksgiving and it's been downhill (or uphill?) from there!

Although Santa was at the mall from the very first day of November (doesn't this get earlier every year?), we waited until after Thanksgiving to see him. We went on a weeknight, which was super-smart, since there was no line. The girls got to chat at length with the Big Guy. Molly asked for a Nutcracker, and Rebecca asked for "an Ariel doll with Sleeping Beauty's head."

Reliving a childhood event for Peter and me, we all went to the Enchanted Forest. When we were little, this was held downtown in the Goldsmith's department store. As we got a little older, it moved to the Agricenter, and I'm pretty sure it was somewhere else before that. Now it's held at the Pink Palace Museum. The Enchanted Forest is held in conjunction with the Festival of Trees, in which local companies sponsor a group or organization so they can decorate themed Christmas trees. The girls truly enjoyed this part, perhaps even more than the EF. The EF has the exact same little moving figures it did 30 years ago--beavers building stuff, foxes sledding, owls in trees, etc. It all sort of smells like cat pee and moth balls, but what says Christmas more than beavers on sleds who smell like an old lady's house? There's a fabulous train village at the end and, of course, Santa. Sage, who goes to school with Rebecca, came, too. She and her parents are recent Memphis imports, so perhaps this will start a tradition for them.

We went to our church's Breakfast with Santa, which may need to become a tradition. The teens did a short play about the real meaning of the season (Jesus, for all you heathens out there!), incorporating the Christian meanings of the secular decorations (wreath is a circle for everlasting life, etc.). Breakfast was served, and since there were cinnamon rolls involved, Molly and Rebecca were all about that part. They made gingerbread man crafts, bookmarks, and saw Mr. Claus yet again.


Next weekend, the girls are in a Christmas pageant. Amelia is the star, as she is Baby Jesus, breaking gender barriers at an early age. Molly is a song (the performance is set to the song "Do You Hear What I Hear?") and Rebecca is a little lamb. We will also get together with the Walsh side of the family for holiday cheer. Then on Christmas Eve, the McKee side, and on Christmas Day, the Marsh side. It sounds busy and crazy, but let me say one more time how THRILLED I am that we are not getting on any airplanes or making long car trips for Christmas this year. Or maybe even ever again! Perhaps this is the best new Christmas tradition of them all!

It's just magical to watch the girls react to all the Christmas wonder. It's wonderful for those of us who are fast becoming grissled adults to see again through a child's eyes, the joys of the seaason.