Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier

Tonight the kids and I went to the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier with Grandad, Teri, and Bryson. We followed them up to Teri's aunt's house which is right near Lake Lanier and all piled into my van. We stopped at a gas station on the way so that everyone could use the restroom before we entered the park. Bryson has been really excited about peeing outside lately and pulled his pants down and started peeing on the sidewalk right in front of the gas station before Teri could stop him. She was so embarrassed, but from the safety of the van it was the funniest thing I have seen lately! We loaded back up and headed for the park. We started through and the lights were amazing! There are a couple pics on this link to Lake Lanier's website:

http://www.lakelanierislands.com/mnol/

I am usually so good about taking pictures, but my camera batteries died. Teri took a few, but didn't get any of the lights since she was driving the van. I was in the back with the kids so that I could tend to the baby. The children were all amazed by the lights and making lots of potty jokes through the ride. I will never understand why peepee is hilarious to those ages 2-8ish.

We stopped at the live Nativity scene on the route. There were real people acting out the night that baby Jesus was born and real barnyard animals, including a camel. There was beautiful music playing. It is nice to remind the kids what Christmas is really about.

We got back in the van and drove through some more lights. Then we stopped at Santa's Workshop. There was a place to roast marshmallows, a huge store full of ornaments, a place to take pictures with Santa, and a mini carnival with rides. It was freezing, but really neat. We roasted marshmallows for awhile. I took Kaitlyn and Alyssa into the store to get out of the cold for a bit. Kaitlyn was really excited to see Santa. We have been seeing him everywhere lately! We went back out and decided to let the kids ride one ride before we left. They chose the carousel. Grandad watched from the side and Alex and Bryson chose horses with Teri standing in between them. Kaitlyn was a little nervous about the horses, so she, Alyssa, and I rode on one of the sleighs. After that ride we had to leave before our fingers and toes started freezing off. :) We drove through more lights on the way out and then stopped at McDonald's for an extremely late second dinner. The kids and I didn't get home until almost midnight, but we had LOTS of fun.