I wasn’t feeling the Christmas spirit this year but as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day went on it has gotten better. We traveled to North Carolina this year to be with my parents. Since my Dad has been slowly declining we try to spend at least 3-4 weeks a year visiting them. It is difficult as they are 12 hours away so it seems difficult to get away but we are always glad when we get there and spend the week with them.

The entire time we are there is spent just relaxing, eating, and catching up with each other. There isn’t much we can do so there is quite a bit of downtime to relax and rejuvenate from the rest of our lives. My daughter just finished her 3rd semester in college on the honor’s list! She was exhausted just before we left but is so much better after spending a few days sleeping.

It was warm enough on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that we could eat dinner outside on the porch! It was wonderful to be outside in the fresh air. We just soaked up the sun each day. I also think our northern bodies are a bit Vitamin D deficient.  We were a bit like sunflowers turning to wherever the sun was shining.

Even the cardinals were out for our enjoyment.

For the 3rd year we have toured the Charlotte Motor Speedway Christmas lights display. Every year it gets bigger and bigger. This year’s theme was Santa’s Safari so lots of animals and sea creatures.

This was one of my favorite light displays. It was massive and gorgeous! If you look closely you can see there is a minivan below the arch to get an idea of scale. The butterflies were lovely!

The light display ended with a drive through tunnel and then a drive under the stands which is very cool. Overall it took us almost 3 hours from the time we pulled into the line to pay until we pulled out of the grounds. We didn’t even stop at the Christmas Village or stop to watch the nightly movie. For $20 a car (with our Coke can it was $5 off the regular price of $25) it was well worth the price. We were tired of the 40 minute soundtrack loop by the time we ended as all the lights are synced to the music so you play it through your radio to enhance the experience but we were there so long we heard the soundtrack 5 times. My kids were done and they are older. I am sure many little ones were dead asleep by the time they made it through.

And lastly, the new Christmas jammies so that pictures on Christmas look good. No holes, no rips, pretty new clothes.

So, I found a bit of Christmas magic in the day. My parents were so happy we were there to celebrate and that helped so much. My kids loved seeing there grandparents and we were together. In the end that is all we needed. Hope you all had a happy holiday!