Festival of lights

On Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend, we took the boys to see the lights at the zoo.  Mom, Dad, and Aaron went with us.  We were concerned it would be crowded and cold, but it ended up being the perfect night. 

First, we saw the elephants - the boys love elephants.  They were inside the building, so we got a really good look at all 3 of them.  Next, we stopped and watched the synchronized light show over the lake.  The boys were fascinated by this!  They loved how the colors changed, the lights came on and off - I think they would have stood there for hours watching it.

Next, we went to see the giraffes.  A new baby giraffe was born about 6 weeks earlier, and we watched the baby and its mom interact.  The boys even got to see the mommy giraffe give the baby giraffe a kiss!

We walked around the zoo and looked at the animals and lights for a while, then my mom bought the boys a hot chocolate.  Next, we rode the carosel.  The boys were very excited about it, and picked out zebras to ride.  Brian went with Jackson, and he loved the carosel.  I stayed with Lincoln....and although I talked him through things and told him that we would start moving, and the zebra would go up and down, about 20 seconds into it, he said, "I'm done Mommy.  Lets go."  He really didn't like it moving!

After the carosel ride, we continued walking through the lights. We found the alligator that we took pictures with this summer....and had to repeat the experience!  Check these alligator wrestlers out!

We kept walking through the zoo, and enjoying our evening.  We found an ape statue.  Lincoln loved it immediately, and had to have his picture taken. 

 After seeing Lincoln with the ape, Jackson wanted in on the action, so we took a few quick picks of both of them with the ape.  Look at these smiles!

As great as all these pictures are, my favorite part of the night wasn't captured on film. 

As we were heading toward the exit, we found a small display of snowmen that were synchronized to music.  The music was Jingle Bells.  Lincoln and I stood, watched, and danced along with the snowmen.  I will forever remember those few precious minutes, dancing with my son at the zoo every time I hear the song Jingle Bells.  Thank you Lincoln for a memory that will last forever!