Desperate to find Christmas spirit (whatever that actually means), we fled to Pigeon Forge last night to enjoy the holiday lights. That was my original goal. Since neighborhoods don’t collectively provide outdoor illumination displays the way they used to (we are guilty of this), driving longer distances to see Christmas lights is necessary, and Pigeon Forge knows how to do it.
We drove up and down the strip, then parked at The Island so we could walk around a bit and find dinner.
The lights and fountain were lovely, exactly what I wanted to see.
Though we had no intention of shopping, Jackson discovered the Build-a-Bear shop almost immediately and began his lengthy speech about how he’s always wanted a Build-a-Bear (true), how Jeremy has one and he doesn’t (true), and how happy he’d be to help pay for it with his own money (sure!).
Meet Joshua:
We also picked up a new shirt for Two, Jeremy’s monkey, who used to have a more prominent role in Jeremy’s life. Here they are on a plane together in 2010:
Anyway, we’re happy to welcome Joshua into the family, and Jackson is very excited to introduce Joshua to Jelly, Owen’s faithful bear who is well-traveled.
Dinner happened at Dick’s Last Resort, a highly inappropriate restaurant if you don’t have a sense of humor. I won’t share all the photos from dinner but rather confess that what I needed more than Christmas lights was a lot of laughter. Mission accomplished.
My heart feels lighter after last night’s excursion, so it was the right call to go (thanks, babe!).
After uploading photos I realized I still had some images that I didn’t share from our brief trip through Chicago earlier in the month, particularly from the morning we spent at the Naperville Christmas Market. (Jacob was at a swim meet and unable to go with us! Boo!)
While there, Jeremy learned that freshly made marshmallows (dipped in chocolate) are WAY BETTER than store-bought.
I miss these people all the time. So thankful we had an extra few days with them…
