I remember 2 years ago when I changed Skyler on the ground in the 20 degree weather as Liam sat on his dad’s shoulder’s yelling “JUST LIGHT THE TREE!” How different it was this year! The kids could have stayed out all night they were so excited!

I had had one of those days where nothing went as planned – I tried to put up the electric gondola for Liam but it turns out you have to wind it every time it gets to the bottom which was too frustrating for the kids. Then I put up the mini tree on our mantel and it turns out that our electric is messed up and I could not plug in the lights! Finally, I tried the electric train set that my mom gave us. We had a great time putting it together but then one of the wires was split open so it did not work either. Then Liam got frustrated because the train kept falling off the tracks and it ended up in a full blown melt down. So…heading down to Kirkland, I was convinced that it was not going to go well.

Thank goodness I was wrong. There were a ton of kids activities, starting with a bouncy house and then a table full of crafts. Then it was pictures with frosty and hot apple cider. We knew better than to stand out in the cold and wait for the tree to be lit, so we went into a mexican restaurant on Lake Street where we could sit in a booth, have a beer, feed the kids, and see the tree when it finally did light up. It was PERFECT. More bouncy house, then pics with Santa and we ended our evening with the kids dancing on the stage just before they broke it down.