Christmas Tree Lighting

Jon and I are locals. We kind of pride ourselves in that. It's a silly thing to be proud of but it's also nice to know when you go downtown you're amoungst a tradition you've known you're whole life. Yesterday when it started to sprinkle and I had a migraine from Black Friday shopping it never crossed my mind to stay home from the Christmas Tree Lighting downtown. We always go. We're from Turlock, that's what you do.

My mom decided to join us this year because she can't make the Christmas Lights Parade next Friday night and she wanted to see how Layla liked the local Christmas scene. We showed up just as the spirnkling stopped for a bit. We walked down both sides of Main Street and checked out the sparse craft booths (it was wet and crowds were light).

We decided to hit another downtown local favorite for dinner. Jura's pizza is a classic. Layla had her first hot wings and we had pizza. Then we bundled back up and headed back into the dark to watch the parade. Jon had put the stroller back in the car before dinner so we let Layla walk and it was a wise choice.

Right after we got to "our spot" to watch the lighting we spotted my Dad and he had Teri and one of his good friends with him. So it turned into a suprise family event. Silly locals.

At the lighting location they had a Christian Rock Band playing and they were pretty good. Layla and Mommy danced for awhile. Then she danced with Mommy and Papa. Then she danced with Teri. She danced and danced and danced some more. We have great videos of it.

When the music stopped they did a countdown and lit up the tree. Ironically, someone moved a tent right in front of Layla just as they got to ONE so she missed the big moment. But eventually Daddy, Papa and Teri took her to see the tree.

Then we danced a little more. By then me and the baby bump were beat, so we headed home and snuggled up in bed. Right when we reached the car the rain started back up so we listened to it as Layla told me stories about dancing Papa...until she slipped off to sleep.

It was a perfect local moment.

*more pictures of this event are available on my facebook or on Layla's site. Thanks!