A Walk in Bethlehem

Greg and Renita have the sweetest neighbor named Elaine (the one who's pool we have swam in on several occasions) and every year for the past 20 years Elaine's church has put on "A Walk in Bethlehem." This year we got to go and it was SO COOL! I can't believe what a great job they did with all of the decorating, costumes, and activities! When we arrived at the church, we got a map of "Bethlehem," which we were supposed to get stamped at each station, and a bag to fill with all of the goodies we would collect from each booth.

Our map (after we got it stamped at all of the booths).

Jeff helped Luke make a candle holder out of clay.

This was taken the moment after Luke tried to force Jeff's hands down and eat his the clay.

How cute is this?! We got to choose something to fill a little baggie with - we chose the peas.

Luke got some goldfish crackers at the fish market and a minute later he got a little cup of grape juice. He decided they would go perfectly together and happily ate his grape-juice-dipped goldfish. Sick.

Luke excitedly pointing at the pieces of bread at the bakery.

Check out the cute wood-burning stove at the bakery!

The barnyard

The stable. There was a real newborn baby (only a couple of weeks old) in that manger! So cute!

Candle making

Broom shop

Luke trying on his bracelet from the weavers shop with grandma

There was snow outside! Grandpa took Luke to check it out.

They made a snowball. Luke thought it was awesome!

After the snow, we had hit every stop except for the animal rides out front so Luke got a prize! A slap bracelet. He loves those!

He also got a snack, which he was very excited about.

Yum...oatmeal cookie..

And last, but not least, we jumped in line for Luke to ride the donkey (the line for the camel was wayyyy too long!). We had a pretty long wait ahead of us, so Jeff took Luke the nearby playground. Then, Grandpa took him to the playground. Then, Jeff took him to the playground again. And then, it was finally time to ride the cute, fuzzy donkey!

Luke was a little concerned at first, but he ended up loving it!

I had to get a picture of the camel even though we didn't ride it.

Luke's spoils - a mosaic cross we made, a plastic dradle, a clay "candle holder," a stamped coin in a little pouch, a tiny broom, a bracelet, and some dry peas.

This was such an awesome event! I'm so glad Elaine invited Renita and Renita invited us! I'm sure we'll go back in the years to come!