Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories Outdoor Decorations

The areas we went to in Houston

Oh my, at first I thought, what can I blog on this memory.  We rarely did more than Christmas Tree in the window and lights on the front eaves.  However, as I looked at the area we lived in and mulled it over in my mind the garden gate (red this time, seasonal you know) opened and the memories came flooding in.  The Hero loved to go to the subdivisions to see the Christmas lights.  When we lived in the Heights area area, Texasblu and Little Miss Sunshine were privileged to see the huge Victorian houses all decorated up and oh so pretty.  Mostly it was just oodles of  lights, nothing like the elaborate music and light entertainment of today.
We moved to the country and would drive back down to the "1960 Area of Prestonwood" and Sheppard/Ella area"  By that time there were elaborate lighting schemes and wooden figures, which made us go ooh, and ah.
A scary, funny event occurred on a Christmas Light Trek when Texasblu and Redbeard only had two children.  All ten of us piled into the blue and white van  and headed for Houston.  After viewing a couple of subdivisions, we stopped at a convenience store for a rest stop.  There was confusion with that many youngsters getting in and out.  Finally, we started up advanced the length of the parking lot with everyone giggling and chattering.  From the back of the van there was yelling and screaming. The Hero came to an abrupt stop.  Sarah and Sean were yelling that  Em had been left behind and had run grabbing on to the van ladder and was banging on the back window for us to stop.  We were all grateful it was found out sooner than later.  Has anyone else been left behind or been separated when out in a group?  One person told me they had 8 children and someone was always being left behind.  : O
Christmas is full of new and old memories. I love it.