Country Lights

We have a little gem called Lake Farmpark nearby. It is a working farm that is part of the Metro Parks system.  They hold fun events and hands-on opportunities for kids and families all year round. But we have never been there. Until tonight.

A few weeks ago some friends at work were talking about the Country Lights event where the children get to see Santa and his "elves" help them use real power tools to make a wooden toy in Santa's workshop.  It sounded like a fun thing to try.

The "sold out" event ran from 5-9pm and when you buy your ticket you are assigned a time in the toy factory. We decided to drive up there early to do all the other activities before Grace made her toy. This turned out to be a good decision.  Even though we arrived a about 5:15 this is how dark it was already.

It wasn't too crowded yet so we walked right in to see Santa and only waited a few minutes to ride the horse-drawn wagon to see all the Christmas lights.

Santa told me that Grace asked for magic sand, an Anna costume so she can play "Frozen" when a friend comes over, and Anna, Elsa, and Cristoph dolls.

We stopped by the model trains, rode a pony, laughed at the antics of the dogs showing off their agility, and visited the dairy area where 5 different types of cows were eating their dinner.

The cows were my favorite part.  Sure, I have seen cows before but never 5 different breeds side-by-side so you could compare them.  It was interesting to see their different sizes and to learn how much milk each one produced in a year.  And, at least Anabelle didn't mind having her picture taken!

After some hot chocolate and a snack we got in line for the toy workshop.  There had to be 50 different types of wooden objects the kids could assemble.  Grace chose a minion from "Despicable Me".  Her elf, Jen, helped Grace use a power drill and a hammer to assemble it and then right in the middle of their work, an elf dance party started!

The elves got up on the tables and started dancing. Grace jumped right in with her elf, although I am not sure what she thought of the whole thing!  And before we knew it, snow (soap bubbles) was falling on us from the sky!  Funny!

Grace painted her minion and adorned it with a googly eye and LOTS of glitter!  She was really proud of it when we got home.  I am sad that she wants to give it away to a friend.

Kyle told me that as we were leaving, Grace said, "I wish we were just getting here.  I had so much fun I want to do it all again!"  Now THAT is cool.