See & Do

Brisbane turns on the Christmas Tree Lights

Last night I took the kids to see the giant Christmas tree in town. I thought they were both old enough to enjoy some evening Christmas festivities and see the Myer Christmas windows. I was right, apart from needing a bit of direction to try and sit still during the pre-light show, it all went rather well.

We met some friends at 6:00pm in the Myer Centre and headed out into the mall. There was a trapeze act in progress which we would have stayed a bit to watch if the music for it wasn’t so loud. So instead we went to see the tree, and the “WOW’s” from my kids made it all worthwhile. They really enjoyed walking all around the tree and then we went to see what else was happening.

There were some clowns and various street jugglers showing off their skills. The life savers were all out collecting for their annual appeal and the starlight foundation were selling these fantastic flashy light star wands. (Thanks Nerolee for buying the boys one each!) They were $5 each so not a cheap donation but they are a great cause.

There was a stage all set up so we wandered over to see what was going on. This being the first year I’ve gone to this I had no idea what to expect. Anyway we were having a bit of a look off to one side when one of the security guards told us there was plenty of room down the front in the middle, so we wandered on in and sat down.

They had some aboriginal dancing that finished with then showing us how they started a fire. As opposed to flicking a switch for the Christmas lights. I have to tell you that my kids found this very confronting. My big guy is sensitive to loud noise and he did not like this part at all I had to keep my hands over his ears for him to cope. My little guy looked like he was going to start to cry but managed to keep it together by snuggling in up close.

Then there was a bush story teller, some kids doing some dancing, a couple of singers and a visit from Santa. Then the channel 9 news team came on and with a selected person from the starlight foundation, they flicked a big switch and turned on the Christmas Tree Lights. Ahhhh, awww.

With that done we went to have a look at the story in the Myer windows. I’m sure when my parents used to take me, they used all the windows. I remember it being a lot more interesting, but perhaps that’s just a child’s perspective.

I am glad we went, and apart from one little drama (I’ll make that another post story) we had a great night. I’m sure we’ll go again, maybe not to see the show. With our kids we were pushing the boundaries of asking them to sit still and be good for that length of time. But a trip into town, for the windows and look at the tree as it lights up will be a great new Christmas tradition for my family.

© 2008 Brizzy Kidz.