Each and every year, we make one pilgramage (at least) to the best in neighborhood Christmas light displays. To spice things up, this year we change from going to a neighborhood off Todd’s Lane in Hampton, to houses participating in the Tacky Light Tour in Richmond.

I had no idea this existed until I watched a Christmas special about it on TLC (or A&E). I’m not sure I am ready to give up Todd’s Lane, but it was great mixing it up with new material this year.

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Tacky Light Tour, Richmond, Virginia.

We took Jackson on his first trip to a Revolutionary War Battlefield today, mainly as a way of keeping “the guys” occupied while “the women” hit the outlets north of town.

Not that I recommend it as an real-life exercise, but take a couple of minutes to think about how you would explain a 200 year-old war to a 4 year-old boy. As I was talking, I realized I sounded an aweful lot like George Dubya Bush explaining the Iraq war to America (evil-doers, defeding our country, protecting our families).

It was pretty creepy.

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Yorktown National Battlefield, Virginia

Another something I haven’t done in over a decade, we took the whole family down to the National Maritime Museum (better known as Nauticus) in Norfolk, Virginia. It was great to spend quality time with my grandfather (whom I don’t see nearly enough of) and he docent-ed for us as we wandered around both the museum and the battleship parked out back.

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National Maritime Museum, Norfolk, Virginia

Christmas in Williamsburg, and it’s time for the obligatory walk around the historic area (Colonial Williamsburg) looking at the Christmas decorations. For the first time since high school, though, we added the decidedly un-Colonial (but still spectacular) tree lighting on Christmas Eve.

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Colonial Williamsburg Tree Lighting, Virginia

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Christmas Decorations, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

I have one empty weekend between Thanksgiving and New Years this holiday season, and I took the Saturday night to wander around the staples of Christmas in DC: the Capitol Christmas tree, the train display at the U.S. Botanical Garden and the ice skating rink in the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden.

I am sure I should be out shopping, or home throwing a Christmas party, but it doesn’t look like either are going to happen this year. Perhaps it’s for the best.

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Christmas Lights, Washington, DC

If you thought it was uncomfortable reading my posts about bridesmaids dresses, it gets worse: Flowers.

I was practically a theatrical design major in undergrad, so I have a background in dresses and clothing (even if it is suppressed in the deep, dark, nether-regions of my brain that’s been reserved for NASCAR and Debbie Gibson appreciation up ’til now).

When The Lady Sparkler was looking through Aria for bridesmaids dresses, she tripped on a series of flowers that she liked the look of. Fall colors (appropriate for that whole “October” thing) and very natural looking. No soccer-ball shaped bouquets that look like all the flowers have had the life squeezed out of them.

The Lady Sparkler and I are both (for the most part) minimalists and traditionalist. Especially with nature, less is more, and simple is better that a veritable cacophony of color and organic matter.

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National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC

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View from Washington Monument, Washington, DC

Day two of the Parker Brothers’ tour of DC.

This time we stayed much closer to home, including my first trip to the top of the Washington Monument since it reopened earlier this decade, a quick “thaw” trip to the Natural History Museum, and a jog around the sites on the National Mall.

Collin’s got a great eye, and you can check out his pictures of our tour on Flickr.

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National Mall, Washington, DC

Day one of the Parker Brothers’ photo tour of the greater metropolitan Washington, DC area.

For Collin’s birthday in August, the family chipped in together and got him a gently used Canon 10d, and he has been taking at least one photograph a day ever since.

We started our two day shooting event on Saturday by heading west, hitting Great Falls and a drive by of the North District of the Shenandoah National Park.

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Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

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Great Falls National Park, Virginia