The week before Christmas, before we packed our car full of bags, presents, and loads of toddler paraphenalia, before we visited Jeremy’s family, and before any redneck photos, we had a sleepover with Cole.
Cole Baby is my sister’s seven year old. And he just so happens to be Will’s most favoritest person in the whole wide world. The kid is obsessed.
Like if Will was Whitney in 1996, Cole would be his drug of choice. I’m not saying anything. Except crack is whack y’all.
Seriously though…Will loves him some Gouk (rhymes with look). Yup. That was what he called Cole. Gouk. Funny considering he called himself Mumbles. Mumbles and Gouk…sounds like characters in the Lion King or something, doesn’t it? Well, these two crazy boys were itchin’ to get outta the house so we decided to squeeze in a little Christmas-time activity and drive around for some lights.
We ended up deciding to drive all the way to Stone Mountain to see if our neighbor’s claims were correct – that it was a Must-See!
Snowflake lane was short and sweet…dripping lights hung overhead as we played holiday music in the car and looped around a couple times to really soak it in.
And when we got inside (somehow I think we got in for free…there was nobody taking tickets or checking bracelets or anything so we assumed…later on, we found out that if you come during the day, they ask for adventure passes – oops!)…so when we got in, and started seeing the glow, well, we got REALLY excited.
(psst…all these photos were with the iphone…in case you couldn’t tell…so excuse the craziness)
Literally just walls and walls of lights. Giddy doesn’t even start to describe how I felt. It was like I fell into Santa’s workshop and Rudolph was serving me hot chocolate with his snowy little hooves.
It was probably the first cold night we’ve had here…I even made Will wear a jacket and we had hats and gloves. Isn’t it crazy how bundling up makes you feel a little more like it’s Christmas?
Cole was showing me his favorite ornament. obviously he was showing it to me really fast 🙂
Cole is picky about eating certain stuff…yup he’s that age…so when we got to the candy store, we told him that he could pick out some candy for him and Will. He asked “any candy? from the store or the buffet?” Yes…a perfect description…a candy buffet. Put that on my bucket list 🙂
$7 and 3 ounces of candy later (that’s a racket I tell ya!), we settled in right in the middle of the ‘square’ for gummy bears and chewy cherry colas and a few golden coins that had chocolate inside.
Cole took this photo. And yes, that is a backhand I am getting to the face.
A group shot 🙂
After a little walking around – only to see the lights because a certain somebody was too antsy to sit and watch any of the shows…and I’m not talking about the children – we found ourselves behind the giant lighted Christmas tree. Why? Who knows. But Cole sat down “to take a break from all this sightseeing” and Will ran over and posed like this. it lasted a good ten seconds. Jer and I were dying laughing. My baby is soo gangsta.
Me and the boys in front of the tree.
Dontcha just love it when they wrap the trees all the way to the top with lights? Knowing me, I would do that and then one little light would go out and the whole thing would be dead. Yeah. I’ll stick to seeing other’s people’s lighted trees just for my sanities sake.
I brought candy canes for the boys…but Cole then told me that he doesn’t like candy canes unless they are Starburst kind…because the minty kind burns his mouth 🙂 More for me, I guess!
And yes, that is a slobbery collar on Will. He is teething (Lord help us) and poor thing had four teeth coming in…so whenever he doesn’t have the paci, he chews on his collar. This is a very rare instance where we took the paci out in a place where it could get very very lost. Thankfully we came home with it. But heaven help us if it ever got lost…I am not ready for that bridge just yet.
What a fun fun night. I love things like that…just strolling around…grabbing some treats for the occasion…sightseeing local attractions…holding colds fingers and soaking in holiday cheer. I think they were right when they said the best things in life are free. Free if you get past the gate and have seven dollars for candy that is 🙂 Next year I want to go to Lake Lanier’s Magical Lights…or whatever it’s called…I’ve heard it’s fantastic. Anyone else go see some lights this year? Tell me all about it!
I know what you mean about not feeling as Christmas-y until it’s cold and you’re all bundled up! It didn’t really feel like winter until we landed in Indiana for Christmas with my family and it was 20 degrees outside when we stepped of the plane. Yikes!
Christmas lights are seriously the best! This year our township tried to put out a light show. . . it was definitely a hot mess. They only had some poorly wrapped trees and a few blow-up lawn ornaments. My husband and I were a bit mortified that our tax dollars were paying for it . . . but i’m sure some kiddos enjoyed it! The place you went to looks a million times more magical 🙂
I am the exact way – when it gets cold out, it feels like Christmas to me! Joe and I drive around our favorite neighborhood and look at the lights and then talk about how we’d like to decorate our future house. I love Christmas lights.
You are AWESOME!! Just thought I should tell you that today in case you haven’t heard it yet:)
Hi Katie,I think that you and your family are awesome too!!I love reading your post.I really love your hair!!Awesome lovelness!!! Happy day,Lj
We took a family vacation to Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte, NC a couple of weeks before Christmas and saw a bunch of signs about a light show that you drive through at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Why not, right? The lights were great, but the hysterical part was my husband (who isn’t even a racing fan) – “I am driving on the Charlotte Motor Speedway. In a mini-van.” Certainly gives my soccer- mom mini-van a little more street cred, don’t you think? : )
Looks fun! Kind of like Candy Cane Lane in that episode of New Girl. I would love to go there!
-Diana
Haha. Whenever I see candy sold by weight, I think of this time in college when my friend and I got a little too excited about some Jelly Bellys (and no, we weren’t high) and wound up putting way too many in a bag. We were at the cash register scrounging for any loose change to come up with the correct amount.
Hey, I love me some juicy pear, pina colada, and Dr. Pepper. A girl has needs.
if you do Lake Lanier next year, go during the week! We made the mistake of going on a Saturday night and waiting in the traffic line for 2 hours just to get in to see the lights, then we paid like $50 to drive through but everyone was in a bad mood by the end of it…and it was all adults! Hahahah! So, don’t go on a Saturday night!!!
Question…did you enjoy Stone Mountain as an adult? I have family that lives outside of Atlanta and they said that the lights were not nearly as great as they used to be. We visited a couple days after Christmas and thought about driving out there but were discouraged not to. Just wanted to get another opinion.
That looks so beautiful! My cousins live in Gwinette (sp?) so when ever we go down to Georgia to visit them we go to Stone Mountain or Lake Lanier! One year my dad and uncle rented a boat and got lost because of how crazy and interconnected the lakes are there and the boat rental guy had to go find them. Good times 🙂
two things: Please don’t cut your hair (Gawgous) and I’m shocked that you didn’t bring Mr. Canon! I’m glad that you posted this though…….sometimes bringing the big ol camera and snappin pictures every ten seconds ruins the moment!! I must put that on my resolution list: It is OK to take pictures with your phone even if they aren’t so great!! A co worker of mine lays out “golden tickets” for her kids to find before climbing into bed. Once they find them they run to board the “family truckster” to ride around town looking at lights. She has hot cocoa, popcorn, and Christmas music on for them!! How cool is that?! Those are the best kinds of memories I guess! I can’t wait to start a family so that I can start traditions like these!! Oh and I’m totally diggin your hat and scarf . Was that more than two things?!?! haha!
Katie,
don’t u think Jeremy looks like Ricky Ponting..
Subha
Looks like yall had fun, we might have to visit Stone Mountain next Christmas! We go to Callaway Gardens…Fantasy in Lights (Pine Mountain, GA) every year. We let the windows down, crank up the heat, and turn on the Christmas music. I would like to change it up next year and go to Lake Lanier too. Love me some Christmas Lights!
I live in GA as well right near callaway gardens. You should try going there next year as well. It’s not free but you can ride the trolley through the lifts and take pictures with santa.
Haha. Lights. Sorry.
We went to a similar thing here in TX and my 3 year old loved it! http://cherrycokecruising.com/?p=1966
We just did our usual drive-around-our-own-town and look at lights, aside from going into Chicago to see the annual Michigan Ave. lighting before Thanksgiving; either way, though, there’s something so magical about Christmas lights.
P.S. love Will’s hat – my son, Cohen, just got that as a Christmas gift from my aunt. Too cute!
Hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
We went back east to see my boyfriend’s family for the holidays and went to 3 different light displays! We went up to Hershey PA for Hershey Sweet Lights, to Marlboro MD at Watkins Park and to a little park in Williamsport MD…It was heaven. Each time I drank some hot cholocate and we listened to Christmas music in the car. So glad your holidays were filled with fun and family!
We did Stone Mountian this year. Totally enjoyed it except for the fact that it rained. We did the train first — very enjoyable, but missed the parade because of the train ride. We did buy tickets (ha ha in advance) and got the tickets that included dinner at one of 4 restaurants. It did make it a pretty good deal because the restaurants are kind of pricey. Because of the rain we didn’t get to see as much as we would have liked and would definitely go again.
we go to Lake Lanier every year and it is so much fun! But like the comment above, make sure you don’t go on the weekends or the week before Christmas other than being crazy busy it’s $20 more.
I went with my family and extended family on teacher’s appreciation discount night, We have gone many times over the years and I dont think it was as good as previous ones. We always go bc its just something we always do but I definitely dont think it is worth the full price tickets. It is quite expensive. A better deal for exciting lights is Atlanta Botanical Gardens, they even put lights in the greenhouse! It was a unique experience (and is quite romantic sans kids) My 14 month old LOVED it and was way more “into it” than at Stone Mountain. just my 2 cents 🙂
Magical Night of Lights was super cool, but Stone Mountain has a better “village.” Lanier’s village was for big kids, and my two itty bitties were too small to do much. The “yights,” as my 20-month-old says, are uber awesome, though!
Those of you that have “Mr. Canon” and edit all of your pictures are amazing. I officially gave my blog the title of ~ unedited ~ because I am not amongst the amazing group of women that have the talent to edit pictures.
http://www.bartlettunedited.com (hope that’s okay to list that here)
I sure love looking at those edited photos though and drooling over the imperfection. 🙂
So. That picture of your baby being all gangster? Fantastic. Loved it.
We went to Stone Mountain last weekend for their last night of the Christmas lights. Couple of recs: definitely worth going back for the parade. It’s short and sweet – perfect attention span for kiddos and husbands. Also, we did the train ride which is a sing-a-long to Christmas music so that was super fun. We have season passes which I would recommend. You buy them in December and that’ll include 2 Christmases so you can go again!
Hehe- Jennifer- that’s funny 🙂 we live in Charlotte but haven’t been to the speedway yet- night have to try that next year 🙂
We live about 10 minutes from Christmastown, USA (McAdenville, NC) and their lights are great! We go on a day my husband is off of work and get there around 5:45 pm when it’s just starting to get dark- no lines and we go right through, turn around at the end and go through again…someday we’ll walk it…someday 🙂
Great pics. I love Stone Mountain but have never been there at Christmas time. Some year! BTW – we lost my daughter’s paci, literally. It was the best thing ever because we could honestly tell her we lost it and we didn’t have another. Two nights of whimpering on the way to bed but then we were DONE with it. She was 2.5 years old and I was done with it too. With my son, I took it away at 14 months and never looked back. Sorry child #2.
Do you love your P&T stroller? I bought the Vibe and didn’t like it. The front wheel made me a bit crazy so I returned the stroller. Now I’m stuck with all the fancy attachments that I bought to go with it. Heard that the other P&T models are better. Is there a stroller review on your blog somewhere? 😉
I actually don’t edit any pictures!_ PhotoShop is on my list to buy!! I envy kb’s mad PS skills too. Ahhh some day. Mr canon does help take great pictures…..if you know how to use it….which I’m still learning how to use. Everday I learn something new!!
We did Lake Lanier Night of Lights this year for the first time and it was so amazing! I highly recommend it! It’s only about ten minutes away from us (we are in Sugar Hill right by the Dam Store). It is a bit expensive, but Publix has coupons and we got in for $30. It’s seven miles of lights plus a fair thingy and shops.
Love the lights! 🙂
I think it’s funny that Will calls his cousin Gouk… my little guy calls his brother, Garrett, Gawk. It’s so dang cute.
It’s a bit of a longer drive than to Stone Mountain but make sure you get down to Pine Mountain, GA to check out the Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Gardens. It was one of my favorite trips growing up to drive down there, see the lights and spend the night before heading home the next morning.
what a fun adventure. and i think a candy buffet sounds like magic!
How fun! I almost took my son to see lights, but never did. It’s a must for next year!
I have been taking photos with my iPhone a lot over the last six months. So, my Canon has been neglected! I decided to change that. I’m taking a photo every day for the next year and posting it on my blog. Hopefully I will get further than I did last year! 🙂
Love that drive through the twinkling lights and 7 year olds are a trip!
Loved your photos and I couldn’t help but notice but I think there is a couple making out in the background of the one with Will by the rock! lol. I don’t know why but I love looking at pictures when people don’t know they are being photographed. ha!
I have a canon power shot that takes nicer pics than my iphone, but I always forget to take the pics off the camera… lol. The power shot is still worlds away from the professional canon cameras. I need a camera that is so wonderful that it edits it’s own photos.
My nephew I obsessed with his paci (same kind as Will’s). They couldn’t find it one time so my sister-in-law gave him a back up paci that was the same exact kind and he wouldn’t take it. Luckily they found the missing one. Then he completely lost the paci. They tore apart the Christmas tree (thinking he chucked it in there) and dug through the trash. So she took the back up pacis and destroyed them. Steamed them, boiled them, cut a slit in the top, just trying to make it like the original one. And he still wouldn’t take it! Haha! So they inadvertently had to wean him of the paci….it was a rough couple of weeks.
My friends did up Callaway and loved it! I definitely want to put it on the list 🙂
xo – kb
Oh I definitely recommend the sport….it is awesome.
xo – kb
oooh good to know!
xo – kb
haha…I can see it a little! Crazy 🙂
xo – kb
We took our daughter and her cousin (both 3 years old) to Stone Mountain this year. I felt a little let down bc I remember going in HS and the streets were covered inlights. All you did was drive through, like Lake Lanier’s. However, Snow Mountain looks amazing, and I cannot wait to take the kids next year! We may hit up Lake Lanier, but that’s pretty expensive just to get in! My cheap hubs may not be down with that.
P.S. Will is the cutest thug I’ve ever seen!
Love it. That looked like so much fun.
Looks like fun!!
Just curious… how cold is a “cold night” in Georgia? I am in Minnesota and I am sure that your “cold” is like summer to me 🙂 Just wondering what the weather is like during Christmas for you?
You need to visit John and Sherry during Christmas season and get them to take you on a “Tacky Lights Tour”. We get tackier all the time (speaking of the city, not MY house!). Or, if tacky is not your style, you could always stroll through the lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. They do a a more elegant job. You would fall in love with the decorations on the huge tree and around the trains in the conservatory. It would give you craft and decorating inspiration for the whole next year!
There is a huge lit tree that I drive by every day to and from work (well, during the holiday season.) Oh, it is lovely. It is done in LED’s now, so did like it better when the light was warmer, but so fun to point it out to my son on his way home each night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEbpQ2Xk9YU&feature=related
Yeah – probably you are right. Our cold is like thirty degrees.
xo – kb
is your stroller a mountain buggy?
It’s a Phil & Ted’s sport 🙂 And yes, it is all-terrain!
xo – kb
Looks like a great Christmas outing! I am a sucker for twinkling lights…even one string gets me all giddy.
My daughter is only 3 months, but already has a love affair with her pacifier. I have received a lot of advice for (much) later when we try to wean her off. The most common suggestion is to cut the tip of it off so that it doesn’t have suction. Everyone who has tried it and recommended it to me says that it has done the job in about a day. I guess once the thing doesn’t work anymore, they lose interest! Hoping it goes as smoothly for both of us when we cross that bridge!
Happy holidays! Looking forward to your posts in 2012!
The Atlanta Botanical Gardens were excellent this year, particularly if you use the entrance off Monroe by Piedmont Park and avoid all the traffic. We went on the evening of Dec 23rd and didn’t sit in any traffic on the way in or out (the main entrance was packed). Plus, walking around in the gardens was magical for our 11 month old little girl. The also have a cafe that served pretty good food (fancy salads and soups – even good stuff for the little one), and we didn’t take advantage of it this year, but they also had a fire pit for roasting s’mores. It was a great evening (and much cheaper than Stone Mountain – unless of course you get in for free). 🙂