Family Date: Jolly Holiday Lights

A couple weeks ago, Eric came home from work (it was a Wednesday), and we loaded up in the van to go on a family adventure! Rooney had not napped that day and I think most times we would have abandoned our plans and get her to bed early, but this time we said "No! We will go and we will have fun!"

I'm so glad we did.

^^^I got that Build-A-Bear for Eric when we were in college. Rooney has been crazy-attached to it lately.^^^

^^^Downtown Des Moines is so cool.^^^

First we drove downtown (20 minutes) and ate dinner at Zombie Burger. We have eaten there a number of times, but this time we went the quick-service route instead of the full-service route. Zombie Burger is definitely a fun, unique place to go. It seems every time we have visitors in town, this is where we take them.

Well...this time Rooney was old enough to realize that the place is decorated with images and mannequins of...zombies. Duh. We felt like the worst parents ever. She kept staring at them and pointing and asking what they were.

We felt terrible so we quickly finished eating and then headed over to Jolly Holiday Lights, Iowa's largest holiday lights display. Eric had gotten a free ticket at work. We have been to it a couple times before and even volunteered one year to help set them up. It's a great cause for Make-A-Wish Iowa and helps raise money to grant the wish of a child in the U.S. who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition.

Christmas tunes were playing in the van as we weaved through the 3.5 miles of lights. Rooney seemed to enjoy it from the back seat. We skipped Santa's Wish Shop at the end, but maybe next year! What a fun new family tradition!

If you're local, the light displays are up 'til Jan. 1 at Water Works Park. All photos were taken with my iPhone and processed with the VSCO cam app.