Garden Delight

It's 4:18 in the afternoon on December 5th, 2011,  a Monday.  Its colder than normal, just above freezing,  if its above freezing at all.  Work has slowed considerably this time of year,  and I am itching to leave work early and spend some time with the family,  but what do we do?   As I stare out the window into the black of night with tail lights streaming past me on I-90, I think Christmas Lights.  I summon the family and they meet me a short while later in the parking lot at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens for the Garden D'Lights.   Maximizing the use of gasoline,  the family arrives in three separate cars.

After assembling in the parking lot and distributing adequate light watching gear (gloves, hats, coats), we head towards the Gardens.  Given the shocking coldness,  the mass of people,  and the fact we are looking at lights,  Jeff dubbs this experience the "Zoo Lights" of the Northwest.   Since the Sun set around 4:15,  and its been getting dark since 3:30,  many families have already experienced the lights and are already headed back to the car.  Many of the little people with them are wailing.  Either they enjoyed the lights so much they just couldn't bring themselves to leave,  or they were cold.  I feared cold and wondered how long our little people could make it.

immediately upon entering the gardens we are inundated with densely packed clusters of christmas lights in the forms of flowers and other botanical forms.  My favorite were the grape vines with with green vines and leaves and purple lights for the grapes.  The boys loved the "rain" lights that were arranged in a way to shine to give the impression it was raining.

Both boys were excited,  and at times running from light display to light display.   Tyler skipped for most of journey and anytime we stopped to long started yelling that he wanted to "go around."

The boys made it through the lights without ever complaining about the cold.  I suspect the gusto they attacked the experience park with,  kept the warm as they ran from light to lights.  As we finished the circuit, they wanted to go around again.  Not wanting to press our luck and to avoid wailing children,  we headed back to the car.

Luckily we have the exact minimum number to get back home using the HOV lanes, avoiding what could have been a tough commute south on the 405.