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When I was a kid, my parents would drive us around to look at Christmas lights. I know for some children this is a cherished memory, but when I was a boy, I’d much rather be running around than sitting in a slow moving car. All that Christmas excitement bottled up in a Toyota invariably leads to bouncing off seats and driving parents crazy.
Well, the acorn doesn’t fall too far from the tree, cause that’s what we just got to do with our kids. On this very rare occasion we find ourselves in Spanish Wells during the Christmas season, and one unique thing about Spanish Wells is that there are some houses that go to fantastic extremes in decorating for Christmas. Its like you really have no other choice but to put the kids in the car and drive around.
Normally, I’d be resorting back to my childhood to repeat “boring” over and over, but this time I had Micah to do that! He was spot on. But then Emily suggested that we start singing Christmas carols as we drive. Again, I would normally be rolling my eyes, but I had the little boy in the back seat to do that. So I decided to sing along. Pretty soon, Micah started to sing too… then Sadie was cooing along too. Next thing you know, we are the rockingest car cruising slowly down Queen’s Highway belting out a 3 part round of “Carol of the Bells” with an intensity that would rival Mannheim Steamroller! And how do you end that song anyways… “dum da da DUM!?”
Some of the houses were really dazzling with their lights. The newest fad in lighting seems to be this laser light that can decorate an entire yard with a single light. One house had the lasers pointed towards the street so we had the Christmas lights glowing INSIDE the car – it was pretty cool being part of the display as we drove by.
Soon Sadie started to rub her eyes, and we started singing softly the background music to the Peanut’s Christmas Special, you know… “Christmas time is here…” Then we harmonized to Silent Night and not 30 seconds later, Sadie was out.
We drove around a little more, Micah got a little restless, but once we got back to the house the very first thing he said was, “I had a GREAT time.” Seems the trick for little boys when it comes to Christmas light display viewing is some creative caroling along with spotting the occasional Olaf next to a manger scene to keep him interested. Even though it is 80 degrees, at least its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.