Childhood Traditions with a Southern Twist

Growing up, each year on my birthday we would pile into the car and go downtown to see the lights on Temple Square. It was great fun and the highlight of the day for me. Every other year or so we would see the Ballet West production of "The Nutcracker" as well. I have very fond memories of my birthdays. This birthday (42 years and ticking!) was especially fun because I got to do these activities once again, only with a Southern flair. On Friday, December 9th, we went to see the light show at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The tour started at the Dragway and wound around the dirt track, under Highway 29 and ended up on the track!

This one really was as big as a barn. It was great!

Naomi is really into dragons right now, so this one was her favorite.

The highlight of the whole thing was getting to drive ON THE TRACK!! We were only going 20 miles an hour, but you could still feel the angle of the tilt. It was thrilling. The picture above was taken while we were on the track. Those are the stadium seats. Cool, huh!!?! (I took some video, but it did not cooperate during the upload process - Errrrg!)

After driving on the track we parked, center field, and visited the "Santa's Village" There were several different areas of interest. First, we visited Bethlehem.

There were Roman guards at the entrance. The kids thought the guards were cool because in school we are studying ancient Rome at the time of Jesus's birth right now. We really felt like we were in Bethelehem. The buildings were realistic and there was a live nativity, complete with donkeys and a camel!!






At the petting zoo we had fun visiting with the different animals. Our favorites were the little goats and the duck with the funky haircut (on the right). I think he was having trouble convincing his peers that his new do was cool. What do you think?








The baby goats were really cute. Naomi and Jeremy didn't want to leave them. For those of you who are wondering, NO-we did not cave to the ultra cute request from Naomi to get a pet goat. We stayed strong.





The line to see Santa was really long so the kids opted to have their picture taken with this St. Nick. By this point they were ready to go home and have cookies and hot chocolate.

"Why this picture?" you ask!
While the kids ate their cookies and drank their hot chocolate I savored every last morsel of this fabulous white chocolate, caramel, macadamia nut cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Go get a slice! The first bite will convince you that it definitely earned it's place in this blog. I can taste the wonderful combination of flavors just looking at the picture. This could become a new tradition every year on my birthday!!

On Thursday, December 15th, Steve and I took the kids downtown to see the North Carolina Dance Theater's production of "The Nutcracker". It was a matinee performance for the area schools and was not the complete version, but included the highlights. It was the perfect introduction to ballet for the kids.

This is the "hugest tree ever!" Naomi had to have her picture taken in front of it.

In front of the Belk Theater posing with one of the nutcrackers!

As you can see, we are thoroughly enjoying our Christmas season in the South! We send our love and wishes for a wonderful holiday season to all of our friends all over the U.S. and the world. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!