Weihnachten Magic

This weekend we continued doing Christmas themed things, inspired by Jonah to take in all the stuff that is offered to do around here. Only about 6 months old and he is getting to soak up the experiences!

On Saturday we went into the Amana colonies, a little old German town about a half hour away. They have a Prelude to Christmas every year (hence the German blog title) where they decorate the streets, have Santa come in, and basically make the quaint little town even more so. People still live in the Amanas, but it is a big tourist place to go. (I was gonna say "big thing for Iowa" but do we really need those disclaimers anymore?) We knew it was gonna be cold and that we needed to bundle up. Apparently Andrew is a bit heartier stock than Jonah and I are.

Andrew and I went a few years back and thought it was a really lovely, warm, and sentimental type of thing to do. Sweet little stone houses and shops all decorated for Christmas. The fences along the street are hung with big retro light bulbs and greenery. Every shop has cocoa or coffee to try and the there is a 100 year old barn at the end of town that is just swallowed up by Christmas. The barn is my favorite part and we wanted to get there while Jonah was in a calm, humoring mood so we went there first.

Though it was freezing outside (in the 20's I think), the barn was cozy with lots of people and space heaters! It is full of decorated trees from all of the local businesses, all of the rafters are strung with lights and there are musicians playing Christmas carols.

There was even a whole area set up to celebrate the birth of Christ, with a nativity, banner and pathway made of white lights and greenery. Hmmm. Imagine that! (The picture does not do it justice. It was really precious.)

One of our main reasons for visiting this year is that we wanted a more picturesque setting for the first time that Jonah saw Santa than the local mall. Old fashioned and traditional as it was, we did not bank on Jonah having no interest at all in the guy. Not a stare, a tear, or a beard pull to be had. Maybe he was wise to the fact that this wasn't the real McCoy. Or maybe we had unrealistic hopes for the attentiveness of a 6 month old. Who knows!