Illumination

I was lucky enough to win some tickets from a blog I follow (Two Moms, A Little Time & A Keyboard) to Morton Arboretum's Illuminations.  I had heard about the light extravaganza but because of the cost, had never had a chance to attend.

Being that the weather was slightly warmer this weekend, we decided that it was a good chance (and possibly our only chance) to go.  Everyone else had the same idea too and it was actually sold out.  Good thing our tickets were in hand!
I haven't been to the Arboretum recently.  I had only been there once on a field trip with school.  So, it looked much different, especially at night.  They had wonderful holiday lights everywhere!  Eliel was on sensory overload!

Walking the path...

It's set up in a very nice pathway which is all paved.  (Although it's a little difficult to stay on the path since it's so dark!)  It's about a mile in length but doesn't feel like it.  There is one direction in which everyone travels and you move at your own pace.  At each 'exhibit' there is something different to see.
They had some lights sets to music from the Chicago Symphony orchestra.  While other exhibits were interactive.  For example, at one stop, you could push a button in various intervals to make the lights on the trees change color.  At another, you could sing into a megaphone and the louder you sang, the faster and more vibrant the colors changed.  Adam and Catherine treated Eliel (and strangers) to a rousing rendition of 'Five Green and Speckled Frogs'.  They had the lights going like crazy as well as received a small applause for their performance.

Tree Huggers!

Eliel's favorite thing?  Yelling 'GO!' after looking at an exhibit for any length of time.  He really is starting to get very bossy! ;)  He was mesmerized by the lights and we did get a few 'wows' out of him.

Bad part of the night? He didn't fall asleep the WHOLE ride home in the car.  So, his bedtime was 9:30pm... oops.  Guess I'll be paying for that one... :P

The best part of the night?  As we were leaving the parking lot, I turned to Eliel and said, ' Did you have fun seeing all the lights?'  He looked right at me, smiled and said 'yeah!'  Be still my heart.