Callaway Gardens

Yesterday, Ryan, Liz and I took the girls down to Callaway Gardens to see their "Fantasy in Lights." I have heard so much about this, but I've never been before; I was so excited! We left at 2 so the girls could nap on the way down which made the 1.5 hour drive fly by (okay, Liz and I napped too!). When we arrived, we found our way to the big tent that houses the will call tickets plus lots of neat activities and crafts for sale. We headed inside and the girls almost immediately caught sight of the face painting; they now both LOVE having their faces painted. As we walked over to it, they caught sight of something else - Santa Claus! We went up to see him, but both girls were a little shy; we didn't even take a picture with him. They were happy to get little candy canes from him though. After seeing Santa, they were ready to get their faces painted.

Mia got a pretty little Christmas tree.

Lily couldn't pass up a butterfly; she loves them.

After this, we wandered around for a bit taking it all in. Both girls loved seeing the Christmas tree that was decorated with a village instead of ornaments; there was one that had a little train going around on a track, and they thought it was neat. They also loved the train that was going around the middle of the tent above them. After walking around a bit, we found a cookie-decorating station. We bought a kit for each girl which had a cookie, icing and topping in it. Lily got a tree cookie, green icing and mini gummy bears for a topping; Mia got a tree cookie, white icing and rainbow sprinkles for a topping. They had fun decorating these and sharing their toppings.

Of course, they enjoyed eating them too!

After a little more walking around and admiring all the trees, decorations, toys and crafts, we headed outside to a little playground. Both girls had a great time here; they always love a good playground. A few other kids were playing too, but it wasn't crowded at all. A few parents watched Mia in amazement as she climbed, jumped, slid and basically did everything Lily did. One mom even asked "does she always have this much energy?" If she only knew! While they played, Liz treated Ryan and me to hot chocolate which was so yummy and perfect because it was pretty chilly outside. We walked around a for a few minutes after the playground, and then we decided to go ahead and get some dinner. We could watch the first show while we ate.

We sat at a picnic table and enjoyed a quick dinner while watching the beginning of the light show. First up was their rendition of "The Night Before Christmas." It was neat but it was to our left side a little bit so the kids had a hard time seeing it. Then "The Nativity" started right in front of us. I think both girls really enjoyed it. Here's a picture from it; it really was beautiful.

After these two shows, we finished our dinner and headed to the car. We bundled up in coats, gloves, hats and blankets so we would be ready to roll our windows down during Fantasy in Lights. We got in line and waited a few minutes to get going. Once we started though, we were all amazed. It was beautiful! We took lots of pictures, and I have put some of them up here, but boy, these pictures just don't do them justice. The lights were awesome!

Lots of Christmas trees and these wooden soldiers greeted us.

Lily really enjoyed this show. She couldn't wait to see what was coming next!
Mia really seemed to enjoy the show too.

Welcome to the North Pole!

Mrs. Claus and an elf cooking and making music.

Callaway Gardens has a wonderful butterfly garden, so they had lots of butterflies in lights too. Lily loved these.

This little gnome was pretty cute.

We had to have a picture of the fairy who looks an awful lot like Tinkerbell.

Their flowers were gorgeous!

They had these two gorgeous trees out in front of a big lake; the reflections were so pretty too.

I liked their "12 Days of Christmas" display. Here are the twelve drummers drumming.

We all loved the next area. As you were driving through the forest, they played "Winter Wonderland" and everything was covered in white lights. They had snowflakes too; it was gorgeous!

I loved all the lights on the lake because of the reflections you would see. The swans were beautiful.

I thought the little ice skating family was cute too.

This was such a fun little outing. If you're ever in the area (it's near Columbus and Pine Mountain), I highly recommend the Fantasy in Lights. It was so much more beautiful than I ever imagined! Lily has already asked if we can go back. I can't wait for next year because I know this will become a family tradition!