Amarillo Botanical Garden of Christmas Lights

We have been to see the Christmas lights display at the Amarillo Botanical gardens before.  I took the kids in 2014, and they even sat on Santa's lap for a second.

Sidebar:  We saw Santa at the mall a few days ago, and I asked the kids if they wanted to sit on his lap or get a photo taken or tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  They said no.  Connor informed me that he is too old for such things.  He said, "Come on, Mom, I am almost ten!"

Anyways, we saw the lights.  The whole family went.  It was an evening full of holiday magic.

Photos, to wit:

But first, let me take a selfie with this Christmas agave tree.

Lex, hanging out with his friend, a violin-playing toad dressed as Santa.

This is our *official* family photo.  It was taken by a person who was working there, wearing a badge that read, "Ask Me to Take Your Photo."  Seriously.  I don't know how qualified she was for her job.  But we look great in front of that waterfall, no?

Lex, in the wild blue holiday yonder.

Here's that Melodious Toadious guy again.  He seems suspect honestly.  But, I suppose he can't get far with those lights tangled up in his feet.

I like this Nativity Scene.

Here is our second attempt at an *official* family photo.  It worked out much better.  Connor is a little ninja.

This one is almost all of us.  Some of us were missing and completely done being a part of *official* family photos.  And that's all right.  We were there to have fun, and we did.

'Tis the Season, Y'all.

The City of Presidents

Rapid City has 42 life-sized bronze statutes of the Presidents of the United States lining two streets in the downtown.  Since Connor is somewhat obsessed with presidential history, we thought that this would be a wonderful thing to walk around and see.

And it was.


1.  George Washington

Our First President

2.  John Adams

3.  Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence

4.  James Madison



The shortest president.  Connor is almost as tall as he was.

5.  James Monroe

Apparently, he was very handsome, and very popular with the ladies.

6.  John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams used to swim naked in the Potomac River.

7.  Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson had a parrot that mocked his bad langugage so much, that at Andrew Jackson's funeral, the parrot had to be removed.

8.  Martin Van Buren





9.  William Henry Harrison



10.  John Tyler

Look!  He is holding a violin!

11.  James K. Polk

12.  Zachary Taylor

13.  Millard Fillmore

14.  Franklin Pierce

15.  James Buchanan

16.  Abraham Lincoln

17.  Andrew Johnson



18.  Ulysses S. Grant

His brother called him "Useless S. Grant."  Brothers can be mean, right?

19.  Rutherford B. Hayes



20.  James A. Garfield

This statute had blown over the week before in a really bad storm, so Connor is standing in as President Garfield.

21.  Chester A. Arthur

22.  Grover Cleveland

23.  Benjamin Harrison





24.  Grover Cleveland

(See #22.)

25.  William McKinley

26.  Theodore Roosevelt

This is Connor's favorite president.

27.  William Howard Taft

28.  Woodrow Wilson

29.  Warren G. Harding

30.  Calvin Coolidge

31.  Herbert Hoover

32.  Franklin D. Roosevelt

This is Kevin's favorite president.

33.  Harry S. Truman





34.  Dwight D. Eisenhower

35.  John F. Kennedy

36.  Lyndon Baines Johnson



37.  Richard M. Nixon

38.  Gerald Ford



39.  Jimmy Carter

40.  Ronald Regan

41.  George Herbert Walker Bush



42.  William Jefferson Clinton

43.  George W. Bush

President Obama will get a statute once he has completed his term in office.

We also visited The City of Presidents Visitor Center, where we could see smaller sized versions of some of the life-sized statues, and learn about the sculptors.