Twinkling Lights

After being indoors all day, the kids needed some air. I needed some quiet time, and Juno needed to rest, Mike was torturing him.
I announced "Everyone get dressed, we are going bye-bye." I went to my mother in law's and invited her. After a little hesitation, she finally agreed, I really needed the help, in case Mike escaped the car seat on the highway.
The Chik Fil A had a holiday light display, just what we needed to get into the Christmas spirit. It was almost seven and I figured we would be headed back home at 8ish, the perfect time to have Mike fall asleep in the car.
I gave Mike his bottle, Diego a blanket, the kid was freezing, I played the Chipmunks Christmas CD and drove. My mother in law humming along, I find out on the ride that she has a couple of Coors Lights in her, and she starts counting down on how she only had two left, for some reason I am at fault in this. Her 12 pack was down to 2 because of my problem, she bought it weeks ago, I promised her it would not have lasted that long in my possession.
As I hear her babbling, I glance at the rear view mirror. While grandma was playing the blame game and Alvin was asking for teeth, the boys fell asleep. We were five minutes away, far too early, Mike would be up at 10 pm and ready to play till the wee hours.
We pulled into the parking lot, the boys woke up, their eyes twinkling at the lights, the display is mesmerizing. So many lights, you know Chik Fil A is super Christian because they close on Sundays. There are reindeer, angels, Christmas trees, soldiers, they went all out. We walked up to the display, there were seats lined up in rows, a holiday concert, what fun, I hoped to catch a glimpse. I have Mike D wrapped in his Spongebob blankie and he is just in awe. As we continue to walk my mother in law points out the lights "Look Mikey, Waaah!"
I can not possibly tell you how loud she was, the people eating outside on the tables stopped and looked up, I pulled my mother in law towards the bushes.
"Waaahhhhh Mikey look!" The lady in the drive thru ordering stopped and looked at us, my mother in law continued to talk and point. Has she never seen a light? A Christmas tree? People? The poor little highschooler taking orders looked at me, her braces sparkled with the display, her eyes a blank expression.
Continue to take the order bitch, Lady tell her what you want, nothing to see here! I wanted to shout and instead thought it, it's rude to stare. I continued around the fast food establishment, "Waahhh, wahhh, wahhh!" She wouldn't shut up, and she would point and run up to displays, the more she said it the more Mikey would squeal.
It wasn't an actual word, it was the word "wow" shorted by the "w", dipped in her korean accent, then the syllables extended times 5, the entire word went on for seconds, then the last syllable ended in a faint whisper, like ADD when she focused on the next display it started all over again, it startled me at first, but then I got used to it. I held her hand, told her I was cold, and kept her as close as I could.
So here I am with my barefoot child, yes barefoot. We were only going to order and go, she was so thrilled by the site she had to walk around and look. If she had a camera she would look like a tourist at Disney, with pics of trees, flowers and all kinds of stuff that were pointless to take a picture of. It's a foreign thing.
I struggled with Mike, kept Diego at my side, and held my mother in laws hand firmly, like they do the speshal kids at the McDonalds house. If anyone asks, I am taking her on a field trip.
We walked back towards the car, I steered the mini group past the customers, making a bee line for the parking lot, then fuck-me-sideways, there was an Elvis impersonator singing Elvis holiday songs, doing the nasty hip thing, because the man was clearly in his 60's with shoe polish in his hair, that hip thing is only cute if Shakira does it.
"Wahh, wahh, wahh, Elvis man!" She ran and took a seat in the front row. Dear God if she stands up and sings along, I am leaving her. Let Rudolph bring her ass home. After a song and clapping, she got up and I grabbed her by the hand, "We really gotta go home." She agreed.
She pointed at Elvis, to her we were watching the real thing, apparently Elvis resurrected from the grave for Christmas instead of Jesus, she was speechless, I figured she left her glasses, and obviously needs hearing aides. People looked at me, I tilted my head to the side and smiled. They smiled back in sympathy. SCORE!!!
The wahhs continued till we got back to the car, while in the drive thru they began again, children stared in wonder, we weren't part of the display, but were clearly blending in. I maneuvered the windows up, she lowered them, every time the car inched we played this up and down window symphany until we finally ordered, and I took the first exit on the way home, trying not to hit a snowman or an innocent bystander.
That is now, and will ALWAYS be a once a year trip. Hope you enjoyed this little slice of my life, and they wonder why I need medication.