It's Tradition

One of the things we do each time we visit Williamsburg (which is every other year for Thanksgiving) is go to a shop called the Yankee Candle Company.  It is quite large and there is so much to see and do there, from Christmas trees and ornaments, to mechanical mice, to...candles, of course.  Here is a hodge-podge of pictures from our evening there. 

Grandma and the kids couldn't resist these cookies...giant cookie cut-outs.  Or cut-ups?  I think they look delicious!

Next we had a little visit with Old Saint Nick. 

Oh, wait, that's my Dad...here's the guy in the red suit.

It's a good thing my Dad didn't have on his red sweater and Santa hat; Mom might not have known who to go home with.  (Just kidding...)

The kids did go and sit with Santa.  Christian asked for a motorcycle!  Where are we going to keep it, that's what I want to know.

Whenever Santa is around you can be sure there is a toy shop close by.  The kids had fun looking around at the toys and, well, playing. 

The kids (and my mom) had a lot of fun with all of the decorations and Christmas paraphenalia in this store.  There were many "photo ops"...here are a couple that turned out cute.

They had suckers in their mouths, their mouths are not really as big as they look in this picture.  You might not think that if you heard them on any given day, but I'm serious.

Something they were looking forward to all day was making candles for themselves.  At this shop you can choose a candle and then dip it into different colors and take it home with you (I mean, I had to pay for it and all, but as far as they know you just make it and take it!).

They chose the candles they wanted and got to work, dipping in the color and then the cold water.  They both thought this was cool, and Christian's expressions speak for themselves.

Michaela quietly worked on her candle...

The person who gave them instructions helped Christian to get just the color he wanted for his pumpkin.  I think he was pleased.

And Michaela was very creative with her cat...it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland a little.

These two very shy children just had to show Santa their creations...

I think they talked with him for about another five minutes.  He was extremely obliging. 

Here is a picture of the aforementioned mechanical mice.  They come out and give a little performance every hour.  Silly fun.

What a pleasant evening...yet another busy but wonderful day in Virginia, one where we were making memories as well as candles.