the biggest christmas light display in the world!

We were super excited to take the kids to see the Christmas lights at Forrest - the new Guinness World Record holders for most Christmas lights on a residential home. It still seems crazy to me that a home in little ol' Canberra could hold this record.... above the USA and Europe??! I don't know how that happened, but we are stoked to be able to go see them so easily :) Yay, Canberra. And people say there is nothing to do here ;)

We chose a Monday night in early December to hopefully beat some of the crowds. To make it a little more exciting, we put the kids to bed as per usual... then an hour or so after bed time (when dusk was starting to hit) we crept into their room. They were not yet asleep, and just looked at us in in confusion when we strolling in, trying to hide our grins! 

We broke the news that we were going to see the Christmas lights.... right now!! We were met with looks of confusion, incredulity and then utter joy. 

'We're leaving the house??' cried Eli

'Really? Now? At night time?? Really??' Lily squealed.

'Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy'

I think we all felt a little bit scandalous!! (Yes, this is what the wild life looks like when you are a parent, ha!). They scrambled for ugg boots and dressing gowns, and we bundled them into car, all full of giggles and smiles. Yes, dear Miles came along too, wide-eyed in confusion but just going with the flow as always! We had pre-prepared hot chocolates for the kids in sippy cups (lids!!) to drink on the drive over, (and even one for us), and the kids insisted on a cosy blanket for the car while they enjoyed their drinks and grinned like Cheshire cats. Pretty cute.

Getting up past bed time made it all extra fun and exciting for them, they were proclaiming love for the grass on the nature strip and every other thing they saw! Haha.

Here are the photos I managed to capture. The shots are a bit hit and miss. Some I am happy with, some are just okay and sadly a whole bunch of great moments aren't even usable due my settings being totally off. Photographing Christmas lights is haaaard (for me!) and so it was a bit of a challenge. But, it was such a fun night, and the actual memories are more important that the photos anyway, of course. Most of all, I hope the kids look back and remember fondly the time their crazy parents got them out of bed to go see the Christmas lights :)

Just a little dose of childhood magic! 

They stood in front of this wall of lights for a photo, but instead turned their backs, completely entranced with the
thousands of lights twined behind them. Such a gorgeous, magical and sensory experience!

This pretty much captures their wonder, gazing up at the lights all around them!

Ummmm, sorry so dark, but had to include the family shot anyway - you get the drift ;)

This image is a bit surreal but that is how it felt, to be enveloped by lights on every side! Truly amazing and just beautiful! 

The view from outside!