Holidays in Southeast Michigan - Adventure Year Week 27

Anyone else have to balance at least 4 different family visits during the holidays?  I had a third grade teacher who was great about framing the challenges of divorced families... "You get twice as many Christmases and Birthdays!"  She was great at making divorce feel like a multiplication of blessings and family members rather than a shattering of family structure, and from then on, my childhood was about looking forward to twice as many Birthday cakes and Christmas cookies, even if it was actually much more difficult than that in reality.

As an adult who married into another family that experienced divorce and remarriage, holidays became 4+ families to navigate during the brief end-of-the-year holiday window.  Last year and this year it seems to be increasing to 5 locations in order to spend time with future in-law family as well.  While my adult self feels the pain of trying to meet everyone's expectations around the holidays, I always try to bring myself back to the idea that my life is blessed by having more family to visit.

This year, I was able to navigate these expectations among my side of the family by arriving in Michigan ahead of my original schedule, which gave me more time to spend exclusively with my family while they still have to navigate work schedules and their family obligations.  To make the most of the additional time, I also scoured local events on Facebook that I might be able to enjoy with family members outside of their normal working routines.  I find that extra special memories are created by engaging in events that are outside of our normal routines.

Here's a glimpse at some of the special holiday events I've been able to squeeze in with family while I've been here... my hope in sharing is that maybe it will inspire you to scour your local community events for special moments to share with friends or family as well!  I didn't know about most of these until arriving and searching facebook for local special events!

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Friday evening was a Hartland Music Hall tree lighting ceremony with a small but dedicated gathering of people who were treated to cookies, hot cocoa, coffee, singing a song together, and seeing @marlowcc covered in sleigh bells. A few people were getting a tour of the hall and it’s history, and a few families were getting ready for a Christmas pageant later on, and all were able to enjoy a little moment of community together. Some people may have even won a few tickets to some performances in the hall!

A post shared by Anne’s Adventure Journal (@anneruthmann) on Dec 8, 2019 at 2:20am PST

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When did we start doing Drive-Thru Live Nativity Scenes?! Is this just a car-loving Michigander thing, or is this happening other places too?! When we drove by the church earlier in the day and saw that it was only happening for one night, I just had to check it out. I mean, I couldn’t let such a rare opportunity pass me by! They didn’t just have one live nativity scene- this was set up in multiple scenes, with live music, live farm animals, and volunteers all freezing their butts off to make it happen. They even made a web app that could be played on smart phones in the car with high quality audio voice overs compete with sound effects! Wh-whaaat? As if it couldn’t get better, they raised the bar by handing out hot cocoa and cookies without asking for any donations?! What kind of Christians are these people?! (That’s a christianity joke.) Even if you aren’t religious or Christian, you’ve gotta give serious props to the dedication that went into this event. They had to set up traffic control and I’m sure everyone will have an opinion about whether they will do it again and how they will make it better- but just pulling off a production like that is already so much!! Have you ever heard of a drive through Nativity?! (PS. For anyone concerned about logistics and car safety- I was filming from the passenger side and we weren’t moving more than a walking pace the entire time.)

A post shared by Anne’s Adventure Journal (@anneruthmann) on Dec 9, 2019 at 4:06pm PST

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Experiencing Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo with my 14mo old niece is a totally different ballgame- especially now that she’s able to toddle her way through crowds! She couldn’t stand to miss any of the action, so when her stroller seat was kicked back into a laying down position, she would do sit-ups while pulling the entire seat up with her by the seat straps so she could keep seeing all the lights and the people. She’s soaking in so many things visually right now and making sense of it all- she just doesn’t want to miss anything! The weather was nice enough that even though it was cold, it was still easy to spend a couple hours outside while fully bundled. Being able to sit down inside for an hour and warm up with some @buddyspizzadet didn’t hurt either. Do any zoos or gardens near you put up lights in the winter that you can walk around in?

A post shared by Anne’s Adventure Journal (@anneruthmann) on Dec 14, 2019 at 4:01am PST

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Top Hats, Capes, and Victorian Era vibes at the Holly Dickens Festival.🎄

A post shared by Anne’s Adventure Journal (@anneruthmann) on Dec 15, 2019 at 7:54am PST

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Last night’s Alan Turner Christmas Concert at Hartland Music Hall fulfilled one of @marlowcc’s large hopes and aspirations: that this space would become a place that continues to support professional music throughout the year so that there are more reasons to gather community together in a neutral public space beyond the outdoor concerts on the lawn in the summers. Did you know that Saint Cecilia is often considered the saint of music? I don’t think my mom was named after the saint, but she sure has taken up the mission to keep the music alive in the community to heart in her role as the Director of Cromaine Library! A lot of people don’t expect a library to be running a music program, but there are actually a lot of great libraries in the world that make it part of their mission and service to the community! Do you know if the library near you supports music in any way? When was the last time you stepped inside a public community space in your area? Do you look for community events you like? My personal hope, and I’m sure Ceci’s as well, is that this support for music continues well into the future of the Hartland Community. I personally believe that music brings the light of peace, love, and hope even when the days are short and the darkness is thick, and I hope you find a little of that peace this holiday season. ❤️🙏

A post shared by Anne’s Adventure Journal (@anneruthmann) on Dec 16, 2019 at 1:03am PST