A few months ago, I received an email to buy tickets using itex to an event called Winterfest. I'm always on the lookout ways to spend itex money and for fun things to do as a family- so I looked into it and found the following:
Northwest Winterfest is the Pacific Northwest’s brightest & largest holiday lantern display and cultural celebration.
You will have a magical experience as you tour dozens of authentically-crafted Lighted Holiday Lantern Displays. These merry and bright lantern displays feature the holiday cultures of the world with traditions stretching every corner of the globe.
This year, Northwest Winterfest is excited to announce that we have expanded to two festivals in Washington State! Northwest Winterfest is a walking tour that is handicap accessible. Walk at your own pace, enjoy the magical lights, food booths and hot drinks booth, and of course our Northwest Winterfest merchandise store.
Sounds cool, right? And at $20 a ticket, for SURE it's got be be pretty great, right? Ahem...
I purchased tickets for my family, but then found out that if we went before December 16th, kids under 12 were free, which meant we'd have 2 extra tickets- so I invited my parents to come along. Prior to going, they all asked me for details, but I didn't have much info myself, other than the description above... I knew it had been moved from Mirabeau Park to the Fair & Expo Center- I assumed so it could be indoors? I think Jace heard the combination of WinterFEST and FAIR & Expo Center and kept asking about the 'fair' we were going to...
We originally planned on going out to dinner on Monday night, followed by Winterfest. I was working until 3pm that day, but since it's only open from 5-8pm, that was no biggie. It wasn't until 3:30 that day that I realized I was actually scheduled to work until 7. 😑 I called Nathan and Mimi and Papa and we postponed it until the following night.
So Tuesday night we were planning on meeting my parents at IHOP at 5 for dinner. As we were pulling onto Highway 27, the car suddenly started rumbling and shaking so Nathan pulled over and checked the tires and the front drivers tire was FLAT flat. We joked that we should recreate the scene from 'A Christmas Story' where the dad tries to beat his record for changing the tire. Nathan and the boys got the spare out of the back only to discover that unfortunately, the tire wrench in the car is for our all season tires, not the snow tires that were currently on it... Ugh. So we called a neighbor to see if he had the right tire wrench. By the time he got there, Nathan was convinced that the jack that comes with the car wasn't big enough, so he opted to get a ride home to get a jack and the right wrench.
At this point, I called my parents to cancel. It was just not going to happen that night either! There was just no way we'd have enough time for dinner and Winterfest. Plus, I was highly doubtful that Nathan would be in the mood once the tire was taken care of.
Fifteen or so minutes later, Nathan called me (I'm sitting in our car with ALL the kids on the side of the highway...). He can't get into the house. He didn't bring his house keys, the doors were locked, the garage door keypad wasn't opening the door and the remote in Bryson's car wasn't programmed right so it wouldn't open the garage door either. Uuuuuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.
While we were sitting there waiting, Jace commented in a somewhat sullen downcast voice, "I know why this happened. {sigh} It's because it's Friday the 13th." Except that it was Tuesday the 14th. *wink*
He ended up borrowing our neighbors jack and wrench and once he was back, he had the tire changed remarkably fast.
And he was totally up for dinner still, not frustrated or anything! He's so amazing. 💗
So I called my parents again- Winterfest was out for the night, but we all still needed dinner! Santa was even at IHOP to greet us:
Tyler was definitely not so sure about Santa:
We enjoyed a lovely dinner with my parents and then went home. Mimi and Papa couldn't make it work the next night, but we were determined! Nathan had to work til 6pm and then do payroll after, but I figured if we were at his office at 6:15, we'd be ready when he was finished... We waited until almost 6:45 before he was done- at which point, I was pretty worried that we wouldn't have enough time for the full Winterfest experience, but whatever... we'd just have to make it work!
As we were approaching the fairgrounds- the buildings and parking lot looked dark and empty... uhhhhh, what??? But as we pulled around the side, we saw the signs for Winterfest parking so at least we knew we were in the right place *phew*...aaaaaand then we realized it was outdoors. None of us were dressed for the 24° weather, but at least I had a jacket for Tyler, even if Dallin and Eli were wearing shorts.
Suffice it to say, it was the biggest let down ever. Because we were cold, we walked fast and were done in less than 10 minutes... maybe 15 minutes max... and that was including me making everyone stop for a few pictures:
It was literally just some lit up lanterns- I mean, they were cool, but $20 a ticket cool? Nope. Dallin thought it was more like a "suggested $2-3 donation when you're done cool." I would have been so ticked off if I had spent $100+ of real money for our family to go! We seriously died laughing on the way home- talking about the difference between our expectations and reality. Nathan pointed out a string of lights on a house and exclaimed, "Look kids, Winterfest!" Then as we passed a house with a single bulb on the porch light, "Look! Winterfest!" Someone commented that we waited longer in the car for dad to finish at his office than we spent there.
Considering the multitude of events that delayed our experiencing the marvel of Winterfest, perhaps fate was trying to do us a solid and save us that 15 minutes of our life after all...?
