bethlehem marketplace

madelyn was so excited to have mason reach out while in the car today so that they could hold hands. she was also concerned about how long his finger nails were (even though i cut them just this week). she kept saying that mason was cutting her, but it was okay because he didn't mean to - it was an accident.

while they were holding hands, we were on our way to "bethlehem marketplace" at a local church. matt had been told about it at work and i ordered us some tickets online. all of the times were sold out except for tonight at 5 and this was a few days ago. we didn't really know what to expect beyond baby jesus and live animals, but with how much madelyn loves the nativity sets we thought that it would be fun.

we were able to take a few pictures while waiting in line for our time to start. this was not a stroller friendly event so mason rode on mommy tonight. he is getting to be a big boy but it wasn't so bad even though it took about an hour to walk through the whole thing. mason was just kicking his legs non-stop and smiling at everyone. there was a lot to see.













the concept was to be transported back to bethlehem the night jesus was born. first you sign in with the census takers, then you are given some coins for the marketplace but are told to watch out for the tax collectors. we got to walk around the 'marketplace' to visit different vendors. madelyn liked being able to buy bracelets from a jewelry stand and then a leather stand. it was kind of fun to see everyone acting in period.


madelyn just kept asking, "where did the baby jesus go?" from the time we got out of the car. she was really excited about the whole thing. when she got play money to buy things she was sold on the whole thing. there were also kids walking around with live ducks and chickens for people to pet. madelyn was really in to that part. i really should have taken some video of the marketplace. there were a few places where the line moved really, really slowly but things freed up a little towards the end.

and then we saw the star and she knew what that meant - baby jesus. i said later that it seemed anti-climatic by the time we got to the baby jesus. then it struck me that it is probably how it was, sort of ordinary but extraordinary all the same.

they had a real baby jesus and madelyn was able to give him her 'gift' - some coins. they had frankincense and myrrh in the marketplace and it occurred to me that we probably should have gotten some to give to jesus.

when asked what the highlights were she said the bracelets she bought, baby jesus, mary, joseph, apples and cheese (snacks she bought in the market).

after our fun in bethlehem, we headed over to drive through a local neighborhood christmas light display for charity. madelyn could hardly take it all in. while she was very impressed, she is just as impressed by houses that have one, sad strain of crooked lights in a bush. i love that she can appreciate even the simplest things with an "ooo, it's pretty."

we got home pretty close to bedtime and i was working on getting madelyn's gear ready for school tomorrow. she didn't know what to do with her bracelets so i told her that she could hang them on the new hooks as some place special where she could find them in the morning before school.

we had such a great weekend! i can't wait for christmas this week! love.