Looking for the best holiday lights in the area? Look no further!
The holidays are here once again! That means it’s time for thinking about gifts, planning meals, decorating- all THE THINGS! But, it also means that my family will be spending a lot more time together (days are shorter, and! Don’t forget winter break!… Lord help us!). This time of year, I like to create memories that will last a lifetime!
… Christmas traditions that our boys will hopefully pass down to their kids one day …
So! I’m going to share my FAVORITE thing to do with our boys during the Christmas holiday!
LIGHTS!!! Christmas lights!!!! I like to call it- Christmas lights a La carte!
I started this tradition last year with my family. There is a website that lists houses within the St. Louis area that have spectacular Christmas light displays! I mean, these families have gone above and beyond! Our boys adore seeing these amazing displays! And you know what? So do my husband and I! We get just as excited as they do!
We start off by grabbing a special warm drink to sip on or a delicious dessert, and we head out on a drive with our guys! They usually are wearing their pajamas … just as comfy as can be! And we start the navigation for the houses we want to stop by! You get a list of houses per area once you pay the very small fee on the website (literally, it’s like $2- come on now! I can’t believe how cheap it is for such a treasure of light displays!).
You never know what you are going to get when you stop at a house! When we first started this last year, we were apprehensive as to whether the displays would be impressive …And, let me tell you- oh my goodness! They SO ARE!!!!
Christmas lights GALORE!!! We hit some memorable lights last year- one was a very special house that had the lights “dancing” to the music, and you could request a special message that would scroll on the marquee on the house!!!!! We decided to give it a try, and when my oldest saw his name on the message, he was FOR SURE magic had just happened right before his eyes! Our minds were all blown! What a special moment for our little boys …
Our most FAVORITE house is a house we have already come back to this year! This house is the light display CHAMPION in our minds!
This house has lights ALL OVER- the lights dance perfectly on point to the amazing song selections! (This picture doesn’t do any justice to what you experience! You gotta see it in person!) This year they had the lights dancing to “Hot Chocolate” from the Polar Express, which happens to be my oldest son’s favorite holiday movie! When we saw the train light up on the marquee and I heard that train whistle through the radio station that the music plays on, I KNEW it was going to be another magical moment for my sons!
As the music started to play and the lights started to dance, my heart was filled with so much gratitude to the people who put this display together so that kids and families like mine could enjoy and make holiday traditions/memories. This year they also have “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which was so cool to see, and! A tribute to Queen that will get you dancing in your seat!
Also, I LOVE that a lot of the light displays help give back to a charity or cause that is special to the family hosting the lights. Some houses will have something posted for you to scan to give back if your heart is touched to do so … or stories of people they have lost and honor in this special way during the holiday season.
These lights are experiences- try them for a date night or when you need something to do in the evenings with your family! I promise you will be amazed and your heart will be filled with joy.
If you do try it out, let me know what you think!
….. Happy Holidays and cheers to creating memories and holiday traditions with family!
