Lights at the Wazoo

Somewhere recently, Veronica picked up the phrase, “Up the Wazoo” and is quite smitten with it. Last weekend, while she was playing, I must have heard her say it at least 20 times. “This car is going up the wazoo.” So on Tuesday, when we went to see the Zoo Lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo, I should have been surprised to hear her say, “We’re going to see the Wazoo Lights tonight!”

It was the warmest day of the week, and I work from home on Tuesdays, so we decided if we were going to make it this year, it was our one opportunity. The only problem with the Zoo Lights and our schedule, is they don’t start until 5:00 (because it’s not dark until then), and we pretty much have to get there right away if we want to do much before the witching hour that is also known as bedtime. 

Being there when the zoo reopens isn’t a problem. It’s actually better because it’s far less crowded. It’s just that 5:00 is also dinner time. So we ended up eating (mostly junk) there, almost as soon as we arrived. 

After we finished our snack/dinner, we went back outside and almost immediately ran into Santa. Veronica was very excited, but stayed glued to my side as she kept waving at him and saying “hi.” 

Once we got Colin pulled of the sculpture he was climbing in/on/through, he immediately marched up to Santa and stuck out his hand. It took Santa a minute to realize what Colin was after, but then he took Colin’s hand and shook it. Unfortunately, I was laughing so hard I didn't think to pull the camera out to get a picture. 

I’m not sure why Colin suddenly decided on the formal handshake greeting. He’s normally more of a big hug kind of kid. But it was definitely the funniest part of the evening. 

Zoo Lights 2013. Nighttime photos from a phone really
aren't the best approach. 

Christmas Frenzy

The twins are now at the age where they are able to anticipate things and wait a little for gratification. (Just a little.) That makes the holiday season very, VERY, exciting. We, as a rule, don’t start decorating for Christmas until after December 1st, and often not until the following week. But many of our neighbors took advantage of the mild weather around Thanksgiving to get their outdoor lights up.

Loving the snow (and our snow pants).

Trying to make a snowball. 

This put Veronica into a frenzy of excitement. Nearly every day she was asking us when we were going to decorate. Colin was not immune to the fun, either. Before it got so bitterly cold, we were going out for nightly “lights walks,” just like we used to do with Ethan. After dinner, we all bundle up and walk down a different street in our neighborhood to admire people’s decorations and lights. 

Unfortunately, that excitement didn’t hold up as well on the day we finally went to get our tree. We decided that, because we’re just in temporary digs right now, that we would store most of the Christmas decorations (including our tree) at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We don’t have an outlet outside at this house, and the tree is very large and would overwhelm the living space here. 

So we headed off to Mennards to pick out a tree for this year. (I know. We go all out, don’t we?) We had just picked up our new van that morning (replacing the 1998 Grand Caravan that was starting to fall apart — literally; Veronica slid out of the door the other day and knocked a big old rusty piece off as she went). So between making the first outing in the new van and getting the Christmas tree,we thought the excitement levels would be high. And they were for Ethan and Veronica.

Big kids carrying the tree, while their brother
chilled out in a time out in the van.

Colin, however, was having nothing to do with it. He had such a tantrum in the parking lot, that John ended up taking him back to the van while the rest of us got the tree. 

After Colin snapped out of his “mood,” he was able to
join in the fun.

Luckily, Colin snapped out of it, and we were all able to decorate the tree together. 

With the super high ceilings we have in this apartment, our little tree looks positively tiny. But it’s pretty, and festive, and ours. 

Celebrating decorating success.