Christmas In Color, Kearns Utah

This was such a fun night! I am convinced that everything is more fun with kids. Okay, that's not true - there are a lot of things I would rather do alone, like going to the bathroom, showering, or grocery shopping, but looking at Christmas lights is definitely not one of those things. We had been seeing the Christmas in Color Drive Thru Light Display in Kearns all over the news and social media and decided we should probably check it out for ourselves. Worth it? Totally! It was so cool, not like any other light display I had ever been to before, and just so fun for the kids too (we took my two neices as well).

We went on a Saturday (at 9pm), I am convinced that was the busiest time for us to choose but it wasn't a bad wait. Maybe 10 minutes to get inside the actual light display and it took us 30 minutes to drive the 1 mile long light display (but it didn't seem like it). When we left, there was no line to get in, drastic difference from 30 minutes prior.

These are some 15 second clips of the display (so much fun to listen to the girls be so excited!):

I don't think the photos or the videos can do it justice.

Long videos:

I think we will go back one more time just so that we can hear Madison be excited all over again. It was a blast and such a fun night out!

Grand America Hotel Christmas Windows, Salt Lake City

This weekend we were able to go up to Salt Lake and do one of our most favorite Christmas activities - see the Christmas Window display at the Grand America hotel. It is so much fun each and every year to see the beautiful displays that they come up with. 

The theme this year was Christmas songs. So as you went to each window you would figure out what Christmas song it represented and then write it down on the card they gave you.

(The last window was Silver Bells - but Mike got a little eager and filled them out before we had seen them all, lol.)

All of the windows with moving objects were Madison's favorite. She would always stay at them as long as possible. This one had a ice skating bird that twirled in circles: 

 Just taking the whole activity pretty seriously and making sure she wrote in her best handwriting ;).

She loved watching the Grinch come down from the chimney. I think we are going to have to introduce her to the movie soon.

And of course, she still loves Santa!

Looking at these photos, I can see now why people say she looks just like her mom!

 <3 <3 <3 Love these people <3 <3 <3

 Looking at herself in the big ornaments.

 The trees are always so pretty!

The famous Grand America Gingerbread House.

This gingerbread house is based on the design of an old Wyoming homesteader cabin that was found at a ranch owned by [Grand America].

It is made of:

1300 pounds of Flour

300 pounds of Sugar

1500 Eggs

150 quarts of Molasses

800 pounds of Powdered Sugar

1000 Gumballs

300 Candy Canes

40 pounds of rice Krispy Treats

200 pounds of Isomalt

100 pounds of Chocolate

And she really wanted to go inside.

Once you fill out your card they give you a cookie, but Madison wouldn't eat the ones they handed out so we went to their little gift shop/sweet shop La Bonne Vie and got some macarons. She sure loved them! I think Coconut was the favorite for each of us!

It was a wonderful afternoon, especially since the weather was so rotten outside. I love that fun activities like this are within driving distance for us! I hope she grows up loving the traditions as much as we do <3!

Hogle Zoo, Salt Lake City UT

The Hogle Zoo is so close to home and so convenient to go to, I feel like we never make the most out of it each time. We just do a little here and a little there. But it's always so fun to go and I love all the changes that they have made to it. The new African Savanna is amazing. It made me want to go back to Africa more than before, which I didn't even know was possible.  

The female lions were out when first arrived at the zoo, and Madison had so much fun being so close to them as they napped against the class. When we took the train ride right before leaving the zoo, they had the male lions out. I can't wait until they are all out at the same time!

 One of my favorite animals, the elephant! I tried getting Madison to love it as much as me.

We went on the carousel together (of course she needed to ride the elephant - all part of my master plan, lol).

I rode on some sort of animal behind them, but it was fun to watch Mike and Madison as an observer. They sure are cute!

We went to the bird show which was ah-mazing! They had so many awesome birds and I can't even remember how many times they flew right over our heads - or even hit our heads at times. It was so neat to learn about them, to watch them, and to feel like a part of them for a minute.

After walking over to see the big cats Madison got really excited and just started giving me kisses for about ten minutes straight. I won't complain. I could live off those kisses ;).

 Family Photo <3

The bear on the right made me laugh because it sleeps like Madison does: hand up on something and leg up on something... just.like.Madison.

Then we got to go on the super awesome African Safari Train Ride:

 She was tired... but couldn't wait!

 Mike thought this giraffe was hilarious (if you look at the picture larger you can see why).

 I am not sure if I saw her blink at all during the train ride.

This Ostrich was walking past us as we rode by. If you look at the sequence of pics, you can see that it waived at us. It was neat and made the trip that much more fun! :)

We decided to call it a day, but not without making a plan to come back around Christmas to see the Zoo Lights. I swear, one day we will have an annual pass to this place! We love it!