November Starts the Holiday Season

First snow today! Beatrix was very excited, but seems to have somewhat inherited my attitude towards snow — it looks pretty and all, but once you get all bundled up and head out for a walk it's still kind of cold and a PITA. Some cocoa cheered her right up, though, and it really is pretty.

Somehow (likely on Twitter?), I had heard that Linder's was doing a holiday lighting festival tonight, so we headed down there after dinner. The greenhouses are lit up so that they really do look magical, and they are filled with Christmas items. It was a completely child-oriented event, and within minutes of walking in Beatrix had received a candy cane and flower seeds from Mrs. Claus, a balloon, and a chocolate chip cookie (she insists, by the way, that chocolate chip cookies are perfectly good Christmas cookies if you draw a tree on with icing. I can't say I disagree. We stood in line for a hayride with Santa, and a large family even let us go ahead of them when there was little room left on the cart, so we got to sit right next to Santa so Beatrix could tell him just how excited she was about Christmas. The Linder's property is amazingly large, and they set up areas like "Christmas tree alley" full of sparkling trees.

After that we checked out the reindeer in the corral, listened to some Christmas carolers, appreciated the poinsettias, and — Beatrix's favorite — checked out the fairy gardens. When we got home, Beatrix said "That was really fun, thank you for taking me!" and I certainly agree! (this is a hard holiday season for me — see earlier post — and this was a great way to start it out).

Now for some Beaujolais Nouveau, another of my favorite November holidays...