Tag Archives: train

Christmas Bears

Today we went to see the singing Christmas bears uptown.  The bears are very slow moving animatronical bears that sing Christmas songs.  We have been going to see them for years. The kids have been talking about going to see them all month, but after we got there the kids were not interested at all.  We watched the bears for a bit and then the kids were off to ride the escalators.  There are three sets of escalators in this one large area and it is too much for little kids to resist.  They had more fun doing this….

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Than watching this…..

 

 

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I, however, had the most fun doing this….IMG_3100.JPG

 

 

As tradition has set in place, we take the Lynx (Light Rail) uptown.  It takes just as long to drive to the train’s Park and Ride lot as it would if we just drove uptown, but then we wouldn’t have the fun of riding the train.  The picture says it all…yes, we were the loudest people on the train.IMG_3652.JPG

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I am not sure if we will go see the bears again next year.  We probably will, but only for the other superfluous things that go along with the bears, like the train, escalators, drinks and peanuts, and a visit to “the big city”.

Fun Family Day

We had the best family day on Saturday.  We don’t get too many days that we do things all together.  Tom and I tag team parent more than anything else.  With three kids it is just easier to divide and conquer, especially if either of us wants any quiet time away to do something by ourselves.  In addition, Tom has been working crazy hours over the past month so this was an unusual treat.

We started the day by going to Grandmama Pat’s place for lunch.  She moved to Charlotte about six months ago and lives in a nice retirement community here in Charlotte.  She had invited us to lunch and then to play in her apartment for a while.  The kids were so well behaved!  Better than I have ever seen them!  We ate lunch in the dining room and then went upstairs to hang out for a while.  My parents joined us as well.  There were Christmas trees all over the lobby and in each hallway.  The kids loved it.  Grandmama loves spending time with the kids and I am so glad that she lives here now.

Here is Faith and Grandmama at lunch….

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In her apartment she showed the kids an intriguing decoration that I remember as a child.  The heat from the candles causes the fan to spin which in turn causes the people on it to spin.  Very cool….

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Here are the kids with Grandmama next to the Christmas tree….

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After we spent a few hours with Grandmama we decided to go on an adventure. Grandmama’s place is pretty close to uptown so we decided that it was time to go see the Singing Bears.  We try to see the bears every Christmas because the kids really enjoy it.  They really aren’t very exciting because they move so slowly, but it is entertaining for children.  Instead of driving 20131223-201557.jpguptown we decided to take the Light Rail.  The Charlotte Light Rail is only on one side of town, which we don’t live on, so none of us had ever ridden it before.  Here is comes…..

 

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Here are the Singing Bears.  They move very slowly and sing songs…..

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While at the Bears, there was a Joseph A. Banks store so Tom and I did a little bit of shopping.  It took a while so by the time we were finally ready, we were REALLY ready to go home.  Tom took the kids downstairs while I paid for the clothing.  As I came down the escalator I found them in all belly up to the bar.  The kids had sodas, Tom a beer and my loving husband had already ordered me a margarita and it was sitting there waiting for me!  What a fun surprise!  We enjoyed our beverages, ate some free peanuts and relaxed before we had to catch the train back to the car.

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It was such a wonderful and exciting day.  We got to spend some quality time together doing things that we had never done together.  I loved it!  I hope that we can do it more often.