Daelyn's been asking me to take him to a local store that's way cool. They have an outdoor area where they sell trees and a little train that goes in a circle on rails. They decorate about 30 trees inside, each with a particular theme, then sell all the ornaments used on the tree in baskets around the tree. They have a whole room with exotic candies, salsa, barbecue sauces, etc. that always has a coffee urn with something delicious to taste and in the tree area there's hot boiled peanuts, sno-cones, popcorn, and cotton candy that can be bought. One area of the store has a huge display of a Dicken's Village with every piece you can buy. The children love to walk around and look at every detail. It's a really cool place and all my children love to go there.
It just so happens, all three of the children are in our church's Christmas Program Wednesday night and the school program Thursday night. I have the costumes already pulled together for Wednesday, but I'm struggling with Deanna's Mary costume and Dane's angel costume for Thursday. This store also has an awesome costume shop, so Don suggested I take a run by there and try to pick up angel wings for Dane. I decided we should go right after school today.
I called my friend, Kelly, to see if she wanted to join us with her children. My friend, Nicki, also decided to go with us. Nicki showed up about ten till three, we loaded Daelyn in the van, and headed to the school to pick up the other two and meet Kelly and her gang. I took along several plastic cups and paper bags, thinking in advance. This way, we could buy the large cup of boiled peanuts for $4.00, split it between several children in the plastic cups, and I could give a lunch sack to each child for the shells. I was quite proud of myself.
We arrived at the store and headed straight for the outdoor tree lot. On the way through the building, we asked the girl at the counter if we could use the train. Several years ago, the owners decided to leave the train intact but not to run it themselves because of liability. Guests are welcome to put their kids on the train and operate the switch themselves, making them solely responsible for any accidents. It makes no difference to me who throws the switch, as long as the children get to ride.
They all piled into the cars, whooping like a bunch of banshees. My friend and I threw the switch and the train began going in circles. The kids pulled wildly on the string that ran down the side of the train and was connected to the bell. After a few minutes, we turned it off, let them all trade places, and went another round.
After ten minutes or so, I left Kelly and Nicki with the kids and I went to look at angel wings. No success for me. They were all little, effeminate things with fur. One pair, which looked exactly how I imagine angels wings to look with feathers on the bottom and a thicker part near the top, were perfect except that they were purple. I talked with an employee who told me those were the only choices. We took apart the packaging on one angel costume and decided it was inappropriate. I finally, reluctantly, walked back around to the train. It was still running, the children were still hollering, and the bell was ringing loudly.
Surprised that they were still entertained, I stood for a moment watching. Deanna sat in the middle of the train, he knees tucked neatly under her chin, one hand in the air giving the royal wave to no one in particular - just for any admiring fans who happened to be watching. I cracked up. The one who was enjoying the toddler's train the most was the 11-year old.
I'm glad Deanna still appreciates the simple pleasures in life. Her innocence and purity are a blessing to the Lord, I'm sure. I watched in pleasure as she changed spots several times, being the engineer up front as well as bringing up the caboose.
When we finally drug the kids off the train, we walked through the store and looked at all the amazing and beautiful trees and ornaments. We looked over the Dicken's Village and sampled the Wassail that was in the silver urn. I let each of the children pick out a piece of rock candy for $.59 ea., then we headed back to the tree area to pick up our boiled peanuts and a bunch of fresh mistletoe.
We had a wonderful time, all had our fill of peanuts, and left having enjoyed a peaceful, fun afternoon. This is what the Christmas season should be all about - time spent with family and friends wasting time, doing fun stuff and relaxing together.
I have tons of work to do at home, but there's no sense having a house beautifully decorated and cards mailed out to half the country if you haven't spent any time with your children the entire month of December because you've been too busy.
So, I say, "Wake up and smell the boiled peanuts! Give that bell a tug! Share a cup of Wassail with your kids. Make Christmas merry instead of just busy."
... and to all a good night.
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