D'Lightful!

TWINKLE, TWINKLE: Early this evening we headed across Lake Washington to Bellevue, destination the Bellevue Botanical Garden. 

Normally, a botanical garden in wet western Washington wouldn't be anything to look at this time of year, but boy oh boy, does this place put on a show, using over a half million lights to create a breathtaking holiday display.

Over the weekend, I learned about Garden D'Lights somewhere on the Intertubes, and read that the next three nights are free (instead of the $10 it would have cost our family to go in normally). So off we went.

Photos don't do this place justice. Even as I was shooting them I was thinking, "It's not going to translate," The photos can't capture the 3D nature of the displays, the animated elements, and what it was like to be immersed in the environment. But I continued shooting anyway. ... 

This photo is of a stream that was actually moving, with illuminated, moving 'salmon' actually making their way up it. And the icicles on the tree were 'melting.' It was MUCH cooler in person.

The kids loved this sea serpent. It even had smoke coming out of its nostrils!

ELF TALES: Friday night we watched "Elf," a super funny movie starring Will Farrell as Buddy, a human raised as an elf in the North Pole. Buddy travels to New York City to find his real father, and hilarity ensues. 

The movie prompted me to ask the kids to write their own elf story this morning. I asked them to title it "Charlie the Angry Elf." 

Here's Annabelle's version. ...

Once upon a time there was an elf named Charlie. Charlie, unlike the other elves, was very very grumpy. He never celebrated Christmas, and was always very non-cheery. The other elves always tried to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to work. They tried "spreading Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear" but not even that helped! So they sent him to where the "special" elves go. That made him even grumpier and madder, because he was bored of listening to that jack-in-the-box song so many times. Soon, he quit one night, while everyone was sleeping. he wandered off into the snow, only to figure out he needed a place to rest. So he built an igloo. He stayed there for the night, and in the morning, havoc had come upon the workshop. There were reports of a "missing elf" and "unmade toys that need to be made."

Charlie, unknowing this, made himself a "filter" so he could drink water. He also caught fish, and never went back to the workshop. He made himself a fire for the night and slept.

Tomorrow, he peeked out his window, and saw many, many, elves looking for him. One even pasted a poster ON his window! He was furious, "They must want me BADLY," he thought. He never came out until the elves were gone. Then, he came out of his igloo, only to find out there were MILLIONS of posters upon it! Then he saw that it's a big deal if one of your FRIENDS is missing, not just a man. So he went back to the workshop, and everything returned to normal.
THE END

CJ decided his elf would be named Bob. Here's Bob's story. ..

Bob the Angry Elf A story by CJ Kisky Once there was a elf called Bob. Bob liked to make toys, like most other elves. In Santa's workshop as a newbie, he wanted tom learn how to make toys, so he went to elf school. One day, when he found out that he was falsely suspended for "saying bad things about Santa during time when you were making toys saying: SANTA TREATS US LIKE SLAVES!" It made Bob angry of course, so he called Santa and told him that it wasn't him. Santa told him to come to a meeting, so, the following morning, Bob came to the meeting. When Bob came to the meeting, he saw plenty other Elves and Santa in some chairs at a table. Santa told the elves to watch some security camera footage from the time it was said. When it was said in the footage, it showed that it was said by Carl. When the elves found it out, they gasped in shock, and found out that it was reported by the Larry brothers, because they saw it as a chance to get Bob, who they disliked. After that, Carl and the Larry brothers were suspended for doing bad things.

BREAKFAST IN THE GREAT GALLERY: Saturday morning, we went down to The Museum of Flight for the reception for photographers (that's me) and their families who had their works displayed in the museum's juried "Spirit of Flight" photography show.

It was cool to be in the museum during off hours. Our small group (about 20 people or so) had the Great Gallery to ourselves.

The kids enjoyed pastries and fruit and Annabelle (the subject of my photo) was very impressed with the trophy we brought home. :)

The museum has a towering Christmas tree in their lobby, covered with all sorts of air- and spacecraft ornaments, of course. 

MEANWHILE, ON MARS: This morning, we listened in on a bit of a news conference that was held at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. One of the things we heard was the latest news about the Mars Science Laboratory. Still no sign of Little Green Men, but the good news is now MSL has used its full array of instruments to analyze Martian soil, and all parts of MSL are working wonderfully. The roving laboratory has found a complex chemistry within the Martian soil, including water, sulfur and chlorine-containing substances, among other ingredients per a NASA press release.

The Mars news inspired CJ to play around a bit with his Hot Wheels Curiosity rover. Here, MSL is patrolling Gale Crater. 

THE VOYAGE CONTINUES: Meanwhile, on the edge of our solar system, Voyager 1 continues to head for the Great Unknown. Launched in 1977, right now it's the most distant human-made object, approximately 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) away from Ol Sol.  

This artist's rendition, courtesy of NASA, shows Voyager 1 in the "magnetic highway"

During an update at the American Geophysical Union meeting today, NASA scientists say they believe Voyager 1 is in the final area it has to cross before exiting our solar system and entering interstellar space. They are carefully monitoring magnetic field data, watching for changes that would indicate Voyager has crossed over into interstellar space.

These days, it takes a signal from Voyager 1 about 17 hours to travel to Earth. Not bad, given it's such a looooooooong distance call.