Tuesday, January 1, 2013

According to the Manual...

 I was so disappointed when I thought that we wouldn't be able to use our tickets to Callaway Gardens' "Fantasy in Lights".  You see, I had to have a colonoscopy the next day and it was scheduled at the last minute...so I couldn't go out of town while I was trying to prep for that.  Ugh.  So I called up there to see anything could be done about our tickets.  I was surprised to see how flexible they were about changing them for us...and relieved!  I was so thankful God provided this for us!  The only catch was that the only available time left was at 10pm on Sunday night, December 30th!  I talked to the hubby and we said, "let's do it!" : )  So we loaded up and headed out for some Christmasy fun!
 On our way to the Callaway Christmas village, Sophie and I were talking about trying to see the Gingerbread Man and the Nutcracker characters that they have there.  We missed them last year, and Sophie really wanted to see them this year.  "According to the manual," she started telling me, "the Gingerbread Man and the Nutcracker Man live there.  They live in that place." "Oh really," I say, interested in where this conversation is going and quite amused.  "Yes, according to the manual." She wanted to make sure I knew the "manual" said so. "And the manual is behind my eyes.  When I want to read it, all I have to do is close my eyes and I can see it." Barely able to control my laughter, I turn to Joe and say, "Joe, did you hear that?  Sophie just said if she blinked her eyes she could see the manual." Then I was corrected. "No, Mom, not blink my eyes, CLOSE my eyes.  Then I can see the manual." "Oh, I see.  That's interesting." She continued to tell me a couple more times about the manual.  That was the beginning of a night filled with fun and laughter...just what our family needed! : )
 I was glad the "manual" was correct ; ).  I was a little worried that our "friends" weren't going to show this year, but finally they did.  Apparently the Gingerbread Man really liked Isaac's hair...lol. 
 We didn't get to see The Nutcracker this year, but a penguin made its appearance and all was good.  After some pictures we headed off to get ready for the lights.
After we finished up and started for home, we decided to play a game where we would each tell a few lines of a story and keep going until everyone in the family at least had a few turns.  I wasn't sure how well Sophie, or Isaac for that matter, would do.  They did great!  And we laughed and laughed.  Sophie came up with a few titles, one being "Sophie, Isaac, and Seth Go To the Ball".  The story included a mean Uncle Joe Cartwright who lived at the Ponderosa (Joe is a big fan of Bonanza : )) and how he made Seth and Isaac wash the stinky, dirty clothes.  Isaac's lines really made sense until he started getting sleepy.  Then all his turns were about Abraham and his son, Isaac.  So cute.  This wrapped up the Christmas season for us and made it really feel like our Christmas was complete.  Hope yours was just as wonderful!
God bless~Stacey

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad you had a great time! Did you read a brochure on it or something? I'm wondering if your sweet Sophie has a photographic memory (like me). I did the same thing in college and still do. I can close my eyes and see the chalkboard or the selected passages from the textbook. Regardless, she may just have a very fun imagination! :-) Love to you and your precious family!

Love,
Stacy R

The Great Adventure said...

Hey Stacy! I'm not sure if Sophie has a photographic memory or not. She didn't see a brochure...she honestly just loves those big, oversized characters. Every time we go somewhere that has some kind of dressed up character I have to practically drag my kids away from them so that other kids can have a turn! lol They want to keep touching them and hugging them...lol. But what really cracked me up was her use of the words, "according to the manual." I'm like...how old are you again and where did you get that from?! lol Half the time I'm trying to keep her from talking baby talk (that started when Seth was born) and the other half of the time she's talking like a 20 year old : ). I love these kids! God bless and love to you and your sweet family, too!