Lights

There are a handful of houses in our neighborhood that have really gone all out in terms of holiday lights. Norah has 3 favorites-the "blinking light and music house," "the Santa hammock house", and "the Rudolph house." She requests to visit each of her favorite houses after dinner every night and we have happily obliged. Because she loves the lights so much, last night we decided to drive to a neighborhood about 10 minutes away that has the reputation for hard core holiday cheer.

We got ready to go and Norah told me to "take a picture of me kissing my cousins." When asked who her cousins are she says, "Megan and Trevor who are so big, and Reid is really pretty little."

I knew this particular street was pretty popular, but we were totally unprepared for what we were about to find. I thought we would stay in the car the whole time, but Norah begged to get out and walk, so we carefully navigated the crowds trying to find a parking spot. We got lucky in front of a house that had giant blow up airplanes and Santas on trains. Thankfully, I thought to throw Norah's coat in the car as an afterthought. She was warm. BVZ and I froze.

We started at the end of the block, with a handful of tastefully decorated homes. In any other neighborhood, this would be the star of the show.


As we walked, the displays got more and more elaborate.

Until we encountered this. It was a giant, sprawling house that was literally covered every inch in lights. The homeowners had a big FAQ sign, and according to that, there were over 70,000 lights on the house, completely powered by solar energy (obviously the number one question everyone has is 'how much is your electric bill?' According to this-nothing).






There was a huge crowd/line in front of the house and we just assumed it was to see the displays. Oh no. These people trucked in a ramp, ice, and snow, and set up a sledding station for all the kids. They had toboggans and one after another thrilled kid went sailing down.




It was definitely the focal point of the block, but there were many more spectacular houses.



This was one of my favorites. It is kind of hard to see from the picture, but the whole house is decked out in ornaments.


This is a real tree in someone's front yard.


It was one giant block party. Most of the residents had fire pits in their driveways and tables full of adult beverages and snacks. We couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a free for all, or if it was more like tail-gating (ie, invited guests only). We figured it was probably the latter since there didn't seem to be too many people partaking in the treats.

Norah was beside herself with joy. Of course, after walking around for over an hour, as soon as we got home she demanded to walk to her special 3 houses. I think she is finally starting to forgive us for Halloween being over (her all time favorite time of the year), and embrace the Christmas spirit instead.