The live nativity: Marmon Valley

Kira found a neat ad for a place with live animals and a live nativity in her hometown newspaper and invited us to go.  We weren't sure how it would play out--afterall it was about an hour away, and at naptime, but we really wanted to all go so we went, and boy were we glad we did!

http://www.marmonvalley.com/moreinfo.asp?EventID=46

We got there about 5 as the sun was going down and the first thing we came up on were deer that were tame enough to come right up to you!  Jason said "that right there was the coolest thing I've ever done!"

Gid and Amara raced along the fence to visit the donkeys, deer, and other animals, while Cora took off towards the creek and found a pen with peacocks and other large birds.

We had a few more minutes till time for our tour, so we stopped in a large covered shelter with a big indoor stone fireplace. They had llamas, rabbits, and even a small pig running around!

We boarded our 5:30 tour on makeshift hay wagons outfitted with bleachers.  We brought a fuzzy blanket to snuggle with, but it was in the 60's, so we really didn't need it.  The tour took us past various bible scenes with kids depicting the birth of Jesus and ending in a barn and a brief scripture message.

Next we headed upstairs to make a quick craft, grab a cookie and hot chocolate and watch some carolers and regroup.  It was getting dark and the girls were starting to ask to go home, so we visited the bunnies one last time and then headed home.  We un-bundled the girls and then got their sippy cups for them, but of course even though we ate on the way up, they were hungry again.

We decided to get carryout from one of my old family haunts, Benny's pizza in Marysville, a place we used to go to when Charlotte lived in Marysville--and everyone loved it!!  We ate our pizza on the way home, the kids went promptly to bed and mom and dad weren't far behind.