Ogden's Christmas Village

Brian was away on a business trip to NYC for a few days at the beginning of the week. While he was gone, Connor and I tried to keep busy so we wouldn't focus on how much we missed him. Monday afternoon I decided we needed to get out of the house, so I took Connor to Ogden's Christmas Village on 25th Street at the city's municipal gardens. The village consists of business-sponsored miniature houses decorated inside and out with Christmas scenes and lights. The surrounding gardens are also decorated with lights. There are vendors selling food and hot chocolate. You can visit Santa and go on a free train ride around the block. It's a fun Christmastime activity. 

Before leaving the car, I got Connor bundled up in his coat--his first time wearing it. He looked so cute. He normally doesn't like hats, but it was cold enough that he kept it on once we were out walking around. It was about 40 degrees outside. Chilly but not unbearable. You'll notice in the pictures that he is only wearing socks. We recently got him some shoes, but when I put them on his feet before we left the apartment he cried and cried until I pulled them off. We're going to have to work up to shoes. 

 

We went early enough in the afternoon that it was still light outside. Santa doesn't show up and the train rides don't start until 5 or 6, but I wanted to avoid the colder temperatures and crowds. We were only there to look at the lights and the little house anyway. I was happy to see that the Christmas lights were on even though it wasn't dark yet. Connor loved the lights. He was in a constant state of motion in my arms trying to look at everything at once.

He also loved looking in the windows of the little houses. He was a little hesitant at first, when I stood him on the bench in front of the first house, but once I sat down next to him and pointed out the Christmas scene inside the window he became fascinated.

It got even better once I noticed the small sign above our heads next to a green button. The sign said to push the button to start the train. I pushed the button and within a few seconds a toy train passed by the window. Connor got so excited when he saw it. We stayed there for awhile watching the train. Each time it passed by our window Connor got so animated. He would start to talk in his whisper voice and would wave his arm around. He was adorable.

Nearby we found a manger scene. I love that there was one. I pointed out the different figures while telling Connor about them. He looked at the scene and seemed to listen quite intently as I was talking to him.

We continued on stopping to look at our favorite buildings--those that had a lot of lights, or moving components, or places where Connor could stand and get a closer look.

Just look at that adorable little face!

Oh how I love my little boy. This Christmas season has been more magical because of him. It's so fun to watch him get excited about everything--lights, decorations, music, our tree. I love watching him experience all of this for the first time.

The village is quite big and we only walked through about a third of it before leaving. It felt like the temperature was starting to drop on our walk back to the car, but I couldn't help stopping to take a look inside a few more buildings along the way. Connor wasn't the only one having fun. Each display was so creative and it was fun to discover what was inside each little house. 

It was a fun way to spend the afternoon, and may become a yearly tradition for us.