Lights, Lights, and More Lights

This year we went to see a lot of Christmas lights because Elina absolutely loves lights now that she's older. We went out to see lights 3 separate times...I know, it's a little ridiculous, but once you have kids, you'll do anything fun for your child. Trust me.

So here's a list of the places we went to--

1. Santa's Ranch: This place is about 45 minutes away and costs $20 per car. It's pretty neat because you drive through this Christmas light wonderland in the comfort of your car. We think it's fun because we let Elina out of her car seat so she can get a better look out the window. She LOVES to be out of her car seat, so she was amped up about the lights the entire time. (You can hear her excitement in the video.) We drove pretty slowly because we wanted to see everything and because there were other slow cars in front of us. Plus, it cost $20 to get in, so you want to absorb everything. One of our favorite things was driving through tunnels of lights. Overall, it was a fun experience, but I don't think we'll do it again next year. Just because they usually have the same stuff and the admission rate is kind of high. Another thing that bothered us a bit was the fact that not all the lights were working properly. Some weren't on and some were half-on. I'm sorry, but for $20, I expect all the lights to be functioning and blinking. C'mon now.

2. Windcrest: This is a community in the northeast part of town. Every year the residents are highly encouraged to decorate for the holidays. They also hold a contest. These aren't high-end houses and they do an amazing job of decorating! Usually the homeowner will pick a theme and then go all out on that theme. It was really great. The only downside is that if you go before they announce the contest winners, you drive around blindly through the streets just looking for bright lights. After they announce the winners, they hand out maps with the winning houses listed. We went before the contest took place and we enjoyed ourselves, but we're thinking of going back now that the map is out just to make sure we saw the winners. This is something we'll definitely do again next year.

3. Trail of Lights: This takes place in Zilker Park in Austin. The cost is just parking ($15). It's similar to Santa's Ranch, but the difference is you walk through the lights. So it takes place at a slower pace. The lights are really great and there's food, games, and photo ops everywhere. We got to walk through tunnels of lights, so that was really neat. Last year Elina went with B, J, and A. Unfortunately, I was stuck at home with a newborn. So this year it was my turn to go with Elina and J! We were sad though because the "finale" lights weren't working. Bummer. Everyone told me they're really neat, too! The downsides to Trail of Lights are that it's a 75 minute drive up to Austin and it doesn't begin until 7pm. Are you kidding?? That's the time our kids are getting ready for bed. So this is a tough one because we get home late and Elina is seriously tired, but we all have a blast. J says that it's pretty much the same every year, so I doubt we'll be going back next year.

So that was our Christmas light adventure for the year. I'm glad we went to all 3 events because now we know that going to Windcrest is the best option for us because it's in town and it's free! Who knew?