Stone Mountain Christmas 2019

This morning Madison found Jingle Bell - about to be cloned!  He was there with Lama Su, the Kaminoan, and they were there on the copier with experiment 626 for what could have been a diabolical situation if not for the efforts of Madison!

It was the last day of school for 2019, and it was cold.  Which is appropriate, as it is December.  Daddy's been super sick lately, but the fever seemed to break around noon, and I'm not sure if the elderberry I've had a bit of lately is to blame or help for that.  But regardless, Daddy was locked away recovering, and doing a bit of wrapping too.  Lots of wrapping this year.  Wrapping all the way.

Anyway, the day was short, as this evening, we hopped on board a shuttle bus for Free Chapel's staff party, which was basically giving everyone tickets and a meal at Stone Mountain.  

We did say it was cold, didn't we?  The picture above is of Madison and Daddy in the village area, which is all decked out with plenty of lights.  A staff member took this photo early on, but we brought the camera as well to take a few pictures, like this one below:

There you can see Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson on the side of Stone Mountain, just below the tree that is lit up on top.  Of course, the red, purple and green village trees are in the foreground.  It was a clear night, but a chilly one.  Here's Pastor Lance and Kate, who we ran into along the way.

We all sat together with other staff members to watch the "Polar Express 4-D" movie, which was basically clips from the movie, simulated snow falling from the ceiling, buzzing sounds from our chairs at appropriate times.  Here's some of our crew beforehand, ready to hop on board.

All aboard!  We just saw the movie last night, so it was like enhanced scenes from the same exact movie, but it was fun seeing it together regardless.  There was a pretty big line to see it, but we were all together and the lights were nice outside.

Afterwards, the next course of action made sense, as we're in the midst of our "All Aboard" series.  With a few others, we decided to climb on board the train that makes a trip around Stone Mountain.

We got there to the station about ten minutes before the train left, so we timed it pretty good.  It was quite cold there, but everyone was snuggled together singing Christmas songs as we rolled around the mountain.  The train whistle echoed throughout the forest as we chugged along.

Madison was quite into it.  She and plenty of others were very much into singing the Christmas carols as we rode by all kinds of Christmas lights and scenery.

The train stops somewhere along the journey, and it is at this point that a lady dressed in old Christmas attire comes out to tell us a story.

How pleasant it was that this story was the story of Jesus, born in a manger.  To help illustrate this, there were lights that lit up, each one part of the nativity story itself.

It was a fun ride!  We didn't have that much time tonight, so we just did these two things, and then had a quick meal at the restaurant there, which I don't exactly recommend.  But it was food, and we were hungry, and it was indoors on a cold night, so there's that.

At the end of it all, we had a very nice evening, and we got back quite exhausted, and ready to jump under the warm covers.  We said our prayers and read from Narnia once more, our home for the next few months.  Tonight, it felt as if the Snow Queen were nearby.  But it's near winter, and that's what things are supposed to feel like.  After zerberts and kisses, it was time for a nice nap.  But tonight was a great memory, and a great time together!