Luminaria

I made the Big Guy venture out on an outing after dark....with kiddos in tow!! Insert evil laughter here!!!! OK, considering that dark occurs at about 430pm here, it's not that tough to venture out after dark. I found out about this event that the Devonian Botanic Gardens hosts. It only happens one weekend and I was interested in seeing what it was all about. It's called Luminaria, and basically it's a stroll through their Japanese Gardens, at night, after they've lit it up with Luminaries. So basically paper bag with lit candles in side lined all the pathways in the Japanese Gardens. The task? To stroll through the garden and be amazed by the amount of candles that had to be lit.....and were still lit after several hours had passed.

There was also hot (ok warm) apple cider stations, carolers in strategic spots, fire pits at rest stations along the way, and lit up sprites and elves cajolling through the wandering peoples. It was pretty simple....but pretty neat. Weather wasn't too bad. I was cold by the end, but no complaints from the Mr.Mister (who was bundled up in his Halloween Moosie costume and snuggled into his car seat under mounds of blankets in the stroller)

or from Lil' Miss. Or from the Big Guy for that matter!

So we strolled, took crappy pictures, marvelled at the seriously massive amount of luminaries that were around, sipped cider, and listened to Lil' Miss chatter on and on about.....

The Reindeer. (This is a picture of the reindeer dancing.....to the carolers singing in the background) She figured that the lit up peoples strolling and cajolling through the crowd were reindeer. I think it came from her spotting one  that had a spiky mohawk toque on.....swirling in twinkle lights. Kind of looked like reindeer antlers. So reindeers they were. It was fun to play spot the reindeer. And then to see them all congregate in one place (a small gazebo on a hill) and that became the reindeer home. But once a reindeer walked passed us? She hid. And she was afraid. And she was also afraid of the dark. So as simple as it may have been for us adults, it was a bit of an adventure for a little kid. Especially one with a big imagination. And as patient as she was with us while we wandered along, I don't think she was too unhappy to leave.

Besides...there were too many twinkle lights on houses to be spotted as we drove home. Priorities here people, priorities!!