Thursday, December 31, 2009

A new way to spend Christmas

Christmas this year was fabulous, but different from Christmas past. This year, it was just me and my mom for the holiday! It was the first Christmas without my grandfather as well. It's weird (and cool) to think that I have eaten every Christmas meal with him since I was born! That's a LONG time!

Even with just the two of us, we kept up some of our traditions (but slacked on some as well). We were also very fortunate to have very good family friends invite us over for dinner on Christmas Eve and for a brunch on Christmas day! They are fun to be with and I really enjoy their company! Our neighbors also had a neighborhood gathering on Christmas Eve, so we stopped by there too. We were very well fed and didn't have to cook a thing!

It was a little quiet without lots of other family around, and not having to cook or clean up from a big dinner on Christmas day, my mom and I decided to go to Longwood Gardens and see their holiday display. We've had friends go for years and tell us how pretty it is, but we've never been! (Briefly: It's 1500 acres of beautiful flowers, trees, fountains, and a conservatory due, in most part, to the contribution by Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954). Because it was winter, dark, and raining, we spent most of our time indoors. The conservatory is a maze of many many rooms with different flowers from varying climates and over all...It's incredible!)

The weather wasn't the best (rainy and cold), but we went anyway! Here are some pics which my camera does not do justice!
One of their holiday trees lined with beautiful flowers!
And another. How many lights do you think are on this?!!
From the orchid room: breathtaking!
You can see in this picture some raindrops in the camera. It was so beautiful watching the show timed to holiday music that we stood there in the freezing cold rain till it was over!

My mom and I! She's FABULOUS! :)

I look so tiny against this big and FULL tree!
Overall, even though I missed being around
other family members, this was a Christmas
I will never forget. It was wonderful!!

3 comments:

Julie said...

Holy cow Cara, those pictures bring back a flood of memories for me. We used to go every single year when my sister worked there and I complained every time about how cold it was! Beautiful though.

Midwayedancer said...

So pretty. Makes me want to make the trek out there.

Anonymous said...

love Longwood Gardens at Christmas! I'm glad you got to be with your mom this Christmas. I really wanted to stop by and make sure to see her especially this first year without your Pop pop. Turned out the only day I could do it my mom and sister got stuck in Philly traffic with the car. But anyways, I'm glad you got to see her! She's the best.