Emme So far, the only Santa Arin has seen was last year and this year at the Lawrence Library. I try to go every year for the annual Tree Lighting, a tradition we’ve followed since I was a kid, as my mother was a library volunteer when I was growing up and always involved in town events.
Last year even though Arin was only a few months old, I insisted on taking him… but it was insanely cold and parking is very sparse so we ended up missing the lighting and only staying to get a few pictures. This year, he was definitely able to enjoy it a lot more, and so was I!
The Tree Lighting ceremony is a pretty magical tradition involving Christmas caroling, hot cocoa and treats, as well as watching Santa arrive by firetruck to light up the gigantic tree for the first time each season. It was a fun night this year, involving a real firetruck that Arin got to get up and play in, and the biggest Christmas tree ever lit up all pretty! Lots of fun for the little guy (and me, hee hee!)
After the ceremony Santa sits in the special atrium and all the kids and parents in town wait in a long line that starts outside and winds behind the lit Christmas tree through the magnificent stone arches that are only open once a year, and through the grown-up section of the architecturally beautiful library, until they reach the atrium that volunteers decorate spectacularly. After you sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what you want while pictures are snapped, you get a candy cane and a bag of reindeer food to sprinkle on your lawn.
Sadly, the past few days when I’ve had spare moments they have been spent cleaning up baby barf or barfing myself. Oh, and we lost power for a day in that horrible ice storm. Our lines our still ripped off our house and in the driveway. Yey for safety, thanks National Grid for fixing it so promptly! Let me tell you, having to yak over and over again in a 20 degree bathroom is less than fun, in case you were wondering. Gives you an idea of what living in historical times must have been like, and it was traumatic!