Several of these prompts seem to weave together. I am having to work hard to write about something new everyday. I have mentioned one of the places we go during the holiday season, but today I will be able to go in much more detail. Holiday outings are so much more magical than the typical everyday adventure. Finding a business that completely covers every tree on their property with colored lights. Reading the back of a bulletin for church and seeing an ad for building gingerbread houses.
The Chesapeake building in close to downtown Fort Worth and they have put on an unbelievably light show for the last two years. This ear they scaled back a bit, but it was still amazing! I am very anti covering a tree with lights...unless the person commits 100%. I mean the trunk and the branches even the little branches all the way up. Chesapeake gets it so right. Every branch is dripping in color...all the way down to the trunk...I can't even imagine how many strands are used on each tree. This year all the ginormous trees got their lights...but they took away my favorite piece of the lighting. They have a sidewalk that winds down to the larger trees and that walk is bordered on both sides with pine trees. Red, pink, green, blue, purple, white...maybe even orange. They were breathtaking. I look forward to the trip to see these trees...this year...wasn't a let down...but sort of it was. At least the lights on top of the building are still the same. The top fades from green to red and back again. the top is also sort of arrow shaped...so it is like Chesapeake has a huge lighted sign guiding the way to their trees. I hope next year we get the sidewalk trees back!
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| lovely pose...sweet girl! |
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How else can a person scale a tree all covered in lights?
We found out soon after taking this photo...
You ARE NOT supposed to climb the trees at all! |
Another place that gets a yearly visit from my unique little family is our church. One Saturday in Decamber...they open their doors...provide a preassembled house...and all the necesarry goodies to make the perfect gingerbread house. When living in Beaumont, we made due, and made the houses ourselves. We never had the preassembled goodness we found at the church. We had to cover our hands in sticky, icky, frosting...cross our fingers and hope when we let go the house with remain standing. If it was a lazy holiday season we might buy a gingerbread Christmas tree. Incredibley simple...but the completed effect was always beautiful. No matter what, the church is hands down the perfect place to decorate a house big enough for a tiny fairy. Without the drain for figuring out how to make the stupid pieces hold together...there is time to create something very fancy. The Bug, Mimi and I all had our own houses so even within our family we chose very different directions for our decoration. The room also smelled amazing. They had cider and cocoa to drink and all the premade houses still made the room smell very gingerbready!
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The Bug...with a gingerbread tree and a handmade house
Icing can cover many mistakes...so many mistakes! |
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| Some things never change...silly Buggy |
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| Stage one - show up - sit in front of completed house |
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Stage 3 - used my imagination
see that twizzler sidewalk?!? |
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| Stage 4 - sit back and bask in the glory of the masterpiece! |
These are two amazing places to go during the holidays. If you are stuck like me in a slightly non wintery wonderland...wandering among beautifully lit trees...and creating an amazing candy covered confections. These are tiny places to go...but they are just the pick me up I have needed to keep my spirits bigg
