Remember yesterday, when I said I liked this part of winter, and how excited I was to go to the Enchanted Forest? I take it all back!!! Lol! Ok, I’m only partly serious 😉 Somewhat serious, but not completely.
For those who don’t live around here, the Enchanted Forest is this beautiful area of the city that is set up with tons of Christmas light displays. Its usually something that you pay a charge for, per vehicle, and drive through it. Honestly, I’ve always found it to be overpriced to just drive in a circle for a few minutes when you can just drive through the city and observe everyone else’s lights. However, yesterday was an event that was just for people who wanted to walk it. The charge was less, the lights were going to be beautiful, and we decided it would be a fun event we could justify doing as a family. We coerced my parents and Jerilee to join us, and set up a plan.
The goal was to arrive there right around opening time so we could get parking fairly easily, and could get a quick start on it, since our children usually disintegrate right around 7:00. Its hard to stretch that with them, so we aimed to start early. But as things tend to happen, we got on the road a bit later than usual and arrived at the right place a half hour after opening.
Guys. It was a disaster. At first. Finding parking was bananas, but we did it. We pulled out the sleds but the kids kept slipping around on them. We packed them in with blankets, but then they were sitting too close, apparently. And Solly was wailing. We weren’t even out of the parking lot and had to change around who was sitting with who a number of times, to try to level out the sleds reasonably. It quickly became clear that Solly was going to cry the entire time he was in a sled. Therefore, he was a solid chunk of crying dead weight to carry. We were all trying, but it was pretty frustrating. We weren’t at a path right away, and we were trying to drag them through pretty hefty snow. Dekker was sitting right on the back of his sled, and it kept getting stuck in the snow. I’d give it a good yank and he would spill out of the sled. Over and over and over again. Luckily, that was completely hilarious, and I laughed so hard that I juuuuust about peed. I’m not even kidding. There was bending over and crossing of legs, laughing SO hard. We finally made it to a path that led us to a shockingly long line of people waiting to enter the enchanted forest. In that moment, we debated turning around. Solly was crying so much already, and the kids were complaining. It was SO cold, the wind just biting. But, we went for it. We got in line, and didn’t wait too terribly long before we got up to the front. We handed the guy cash for our family and he gave us a deal. We should’ve cost $15 and got in for $10! Woot! We were SO eager to get in, sure that everyone would settle once there were beautiful lights to see.
And it sort of worked. The kids in the sleds were quiet and entertained, and Solly quieted, but he had to be carried the whole time. And guys, he was freeeeezing. Everyone was solidly bundled, but it just wasn’t cutting it, with the kids not running around or moving. They all were just stationary, and frozen. Finally, it became clear that we had to pick up the pace and get things moving, because they kids were just stinking cold. Now, having driven through this display before, it always felt fast. But guys, we were pushing through for a solid 1.5 hours. At least. We tried to point out the things to the kids that they’d like the most (foxes for Rowan, purple for Laela, all the Noah’s Ark animals for Dekker, etc.) but otherwise, we put our heads down and pulled those sleds hard. I carried Solly for a good chunk of it but he is just so heavy, and then puffy with all of his snow stuff on, and then weepy and leany and just hard to handle. I traded off with Brady after a while but the sleds hurt my back to pull too. But we made it happen, and tried to make the most of it. SO many times, we thought it was the end, but it just kept on going! The never ending Christmas lights display. There was even a part that said “Thank you for coming,” But there was still tons left! Hahaha!! I tried to keep it funny, but we were all pretty over it. I made jokes about regretting this decision, but while actually regretting the decision…
Getting back to the van was also an ordeal, and the kids were absolutely frozen. Frozen, as in we were taking their boots and mitts off to give their skin a chance to meet the warmth of the van. We put them in car seats and wrapped them in blankets and cranked the heat. Dekker was in good spirits, but when I sat on him (which I tend to do when I’m buckling Rowan up) he was physically shivering under me. Rowan seemed game for whatever. I asked how his feet were – freezing or ok? He told me they were ok. I asked “what about your mitts?” He held them up to me, and I asked if I should take them off. “Uuuhh, ya ok!” He was totally fine! It was awesome. We left quickly and unceremoniously. Laela was shaking and crying. Solly was losing it.
We weren’t even out of the parking lot before Solly was asleep, and Laela followed behind within minutes. Dekker and Rowan seemed strangely unphased by the whole thing, making jokes and being super hyper. Dekker asked if they could have a treat. Since we skipped out on the promise of hot chocolate and popcorn provided (because we just needed to finish up and go home) we agreed with Dekker, and promised to drive through at McDonalds and get them some cookies.
Once all three older ones were awake and enjoying a cookie, I talked to them about their stellar attitudes, and how we knew how cold they were, yet they kept on their happy faces and seemed to be really thankful to have gone. Laela was still covered in tears, her face just streaked and red, her hands shaking, but she reassured me that she was happy we had gone. The boys literally cheered from the back (because they were SO hyper.) It was adorable and made the whole thing feel more worth it than it had before. I was pretty choked in the beginning, but this helped a lot.
Upon getting home, the big kids peed and everyone went straight to bed. Yes, we had dressed them in sweats and cozy things before we left for this exact reason. Dekker and Rowan were still buzzing, while Laels was happy to snuggle into bed, and Solly barely woke up when I took him out of his snow stuff and laid him down. Once their doors were closed, however, the monitor didn’t trip once.
We all slept until 8:00 at least, some of them until 9:00. Unbelievable. Worth it, totally.
I have no pictures to show for last night, since it felt pretty survival-ish, but it was good 🙂 A different kind of good. Not easy good. Not cozy good. Not at all. But I’m glad we went!
I’m thinking the festival of trees will be the only other event we’ll try for this Christmas season, if we even do. But its an indoor event, sooooo there’s the appeal right there! Christmas lights and a lack of wind! What more does a person need??
Stay warm, folks!