Christmas Advent Calendar, Day 13: Night Walks & Christmas Lights

Christmas has come and gone ... bear with me as I recap the remainder of our advent calendar activities. It seems like the same thing happens every year: I have a full list of activities planned, sure to put us in the holiday spirit, and somewhere along the way I lose momentum as our calendar fills up with other stuff. We definitely enjoyed the Christmas season so I think the advent calendar's main objective was achieved, but a few days were missed along the way. Oh well ...

Advent calendar day 13 was Andi's birthday, and we celebrated his special day at the lake cabin. I'd originally planned "play in the snow" as our activity knowing Andi would want to spend his birthday doing his favorite wintertime cabin things -- ice fishing, hanging out with neighbors and tinkering around with stuff. Except, this year brought unseasonably warm weather and no snow! The lake was still open (unfrozen) so ice fishing was surely out of the question.

We may not have been able to play in the snow, but we still hung out with the neighbors and subbed playing in the snow for ... playing in the rain? Our cabin friends Oscar and Deanna invited us over to their place for a bonfire and grilled hamburgers. We bundled up in our cold weather gear, strapped lights on our heads and hung out around the fire in the misting rain. Later, our big group went for a walk down their cabin road in the pitch-black night. It was so fun!

Night walks have become one of our favorite things to do at the cabin this winter. Party because, well, there isn't much else to do with no snow on the ground and an unfrozen lake. It feels like an adventure walking down the cabin road with nothing lighting the way but the lamps on our heads and the moon in the sky. It's a great way to tire out the kids before bedtime, too.

A few errands brought us to nearby Turtle Lake that weekend, so we stopped by the Lights in the Park event while we were there. Driving around in the dark to look at Christmas lights is likely one of my favorite advent calendar activities because it's such innocent fun for the whole family. We had the entire park to ourselves that evening as we cruised along lookong at Christmas lights. "Oh! I see lights! I see lights!" Aden exclaimed over and over. Both Tory and Aden were enthralled with the displays as we looped through the park a handful of times, peering over each and every one. 

  

No snow, but we still managed to find plenty of ways to weave the Christmas spirit into our cabin weekend.