Christmas Fun 2023

A sampling of our Christmas activities!

Our church, Saint Mary of the Mills, had the usual amazing display of poinsettias. 

Christmas deco

We saw some of the fantastic light displays in our area.

Near the mill in Savage, Maryland is a house with a full yard of inflatables and lights.

Foundry Street decor

We found a Clydesdale inflatable but didn't stop for photos in one Elkridge neighborhood.

Front car window view

A more tree-centric house was our next visit.

Trees made of light!

Riverside Circle (back in Ellicott City) had music along with the light display. Nothing like a little FM to sync with!

Approaching from one side

Approaching from the other end of the street

In the middle

More of the middle

Reindeer rodeo

Yoda or Grogu?

Back at the beginning, but from the other direction

Our big finale was on Red Hill Way in Ellicott City. It even has its own Facebook page!

Approaching the big house

Sports section

Close up of the Ravens

A lit house

Decorating philosophy

Snowman made of light!

Roof

The next door neighbor, realizing the impossibility of coming even close, has only one yard decoration.

If you can't beat 'em, copy 'em!

A popular Christmas present was Ribbon Ninja, where players try to take ribbons off of each others' wrists. It's a bit like flag-football but with ninja action.

Ready for action!

Lunging

It's all fun and games until someone loses their last ribbon

We went bowling and forgot to take pictures. Too much fun was being had. We may go again in the new year.

Christmas Stuff 2021

Here's a bunch of the little things we did over Christmas this year (though Christmas is still going for us, at least till the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6)).

The kids were getting antsy to decorate inside. The rest of our street was already decorated outside. We decided to put up the tree, the outdoor lights, and our outdoor nativity on the third Sunday of Advent, commonly called "Gaudete Sunday." Gaudete is the Latin word for "rejoice" and that Sunday is one of the two days in the liturgical year when Catholic priests wear rose-colored vestments (we'll leave aside the whole debate about whether the color is rose or pink). The timing was earlier than usual for us but it seemed appropriate liturgically. Also, the kids are grown-up enough not to pull down the tree.

Setting up the tree

We made and decorated Christmas cookies with family though I somehow missed on taking pictures with people!

A simple plate

An even simpler one

More complicated

Our dance studio hosted a Christmas party where they showed White Christmas. They served hot cocoa and desserts. People came dressed in pajamas. We even danced a bit. We brought the kids along and they were happy (for the most part) to participate.

Siblings on the floor!

We saw a lot of yard decorations on walks and at church.

Stable at church!

Snoopy celebrates 20 year of LOTR with a "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" routine

A fun yard

A patriotic yard

An even more fun yard

We didn't get many pictures of present-opening because we were busy opening presents.

Grandchild and Granny work together

Opening gifts

The presents were wonderful and we are enjoying them a lot. Having family visit was great, as was hanging out with out-of-town family and friends over the internet. We've had a great holiday so far and are looking forward to more!

Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens 2018

We went again to the Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens (see the previous trip here). We went on the Saturday before Christmas and had to wait quite a while to get into the parking lot. Perseverance paid off and we wound up in the smaller lot right next to the train display. That became our first stop.

Conservatory at Brookside Gardens

The conservatory is a big greenhouse, so they had plenty of plants on display. We only stopped to look at one since we wanted to catch the trains.

Poinsettias 

The train display was more or less exactly the same as previous years, but that's okay since it's a fantastic display.

Big train table!

Other end of the table with a conservatory replica

Dragon!

The side display recreates a trolley route from Washington up to the Cabin John Hotel.

Georgetown Car Barn (with Exorcist stairs!)

Band and dancers at Glen Echo!

Cabin John Hotel

We wandered through the outdoor lights, which were delightful as usual.

Just outside the conservatory

Loch Ness Monster recreation

A fox

A turtle

Some trees and teepees

A dragonfly

At the Visitors Center, they were serving snacks and had entertainment. The band was The Eclectiks, a Celtic-inspired group that did pop classics and more traditional tunes. Naturally, they played Christmas favorites in their own style.

The Eclectiks

The garden is celebrating fifty years of existence and commemorated that in light!

Birthday lights!

The visit was fun and we will probably go back next year!