Every Piece of This

Every year for the last few years, we've taken the hooligans to see the "Tacky Light Tour" in our local town. It's just a route you drive that goes past the most ridiculously tacky and festively cray-cray homes nearby.

What? You don't go look at lights in costume? They would do everything in costume I think if I let them. I figured we'd be in the van, no one would care...so why not? Anything to keep the peace ya know. Pick your battles, all that.

And no drive around town looking at lights is complete without a good rock version of a Christmas song, right? Well, that's probably just us, but ya know. This family can't go very long without a little Shinedown karaoke.

There were some really amazing light displays. Merrick kept reminding us that "he wished we had lights like those". Awesome as those lights are...I cannot imagine the headache it was to put them up/take them down. I think I would definitely pull a redneck and leave those suckers up all year long if that was the case. But we definitely appreciated their hard work and willingness to pay out the wazoo for their electric bill.

There always seems to be someone who is either too young to care, or playing Scrooge. This year it was Tirzah. She fell asleep after literally about the second house...and that was after throwing a huge fit getting into the car. We all decided it was better that she was asleep. Oh, and it's tradition that someone always poops mid-tour, as well. One of the kids, that is. Billy is totally house-trained. This year, since we just have one hooligan in diapers, Jericho fulfilled this tradition for us. Bah-Humbug just a little.

We really did have a great time driving around looking at lights, even though the fragrance wasn't exactly pine and holly. I've loved watching Christmas happen through the eyes of the hooligans, who are a bit older and more understanding, this year. It's fun to watch the wonder on their faces, and remember yourself how much there truly is to wonder about.

Merrick's only lament over the trip was that Tirzah did fall asleep and, as he put it, missed "every piece of this". She may have missed a few thousand lights, but we are definitely enjoying the every piece of this. :)