Luminaries at a la Neighborhood!

So last night our neighborhood did our 2nd annual "Luminaries at a la Neighborhood". Needless to say what was planned to be a huge success turned into a three ringed circus. It was quite the entertainment and we did get to see our neighbors and kibitz so all was good.

The luminaries were set to run from 6pm - 9pm, a horse drawn buggy would then take people throughout the neighborhood to see the luminaries. The buggy rides were open to homeowners, their guest and the public. It was a free buggy ride and someone was going to collect money for the Salvation Army's angel tree.

So all the planning for our 2nd annual Luminaries at a la Neighborhood started last weekend, when I decided to have a little Christmas party and invite our friends over for some shrimp stew and potato salad and my yummy chocolate cake. Good friends, good times and some luminaries. Not to mention a free buggy ride, it would have been a helluva good time! So I invited everyone and then Meredith and Noah got sick, then I got sick, then Josh was suffering from exhaustion so I cancelled. However, the luminaries still had to take place and since Josh is 2nd vice president of our Homes Owners Association, we had to participate. They even advertised this event in our local paper.

So at 4pm Josh and Meredith set out to fill the white bags for the luminaries. Josh filled the bags and Meredith danced to the wiggles CD Josh gave her that day for being sick. Meredith was very cute dancing in the drive way with her little radio. The bags were filled and ready about 5:15pm and just then the clouds started rolling in and the wind picked up.

Then at 5:45pm we were ready to head out and set them up and it started raining. We began to wonder what to do, the wind was wipping furiously, it was wet and the luminaries were set to take place. There was no contingency plan for rain and wind. At 6pm the rain had stopped so I told Josh to go ahead and put them out. He started and as he laid a few down in the driveway our neighbor told him the event was cancelled. So he picked them up and headed in, his wagon toting the luminaries behind him. Then we looked out the window and what did appear...... a horse drawn buggy that was empty my dear. So again we looked up and down the street to see what everyone else was doing, but we didn't see any luminaires.

So we called in takeout to Spicy Pickle for the 857th time this month and decided to forget the luminaries this year. 15 minutes later, Josh walked in with dinner and in a frenzy he yelled "It isn't cancelled, everyone has theirs out and the buggy is still going around with people now!" So out we rushed to set up the luminaries. The little white burning bags were out all of 20 minutes when 4 of them had caught on fire! There were mini bonfires up and down the whole street. All of our neighbors were outside watching this spectacle of luminaries. The kids were running to the burning bags and putting them out with their feet. Meredith was holding my hand watching in awe and pointing and saying "Hot! Hot Mama!". So after 25 minutes, some small talk with the neighbors, losing 4 luminaries tragically; we picked them up until next weekend.

Yes our neighborhood is doing this again next Saturday too! No free buggy rides, but a bunch of houses decorated with lights and luminaries, it really is very pretty! You should come and see.