Christmas in the Grotto / Festive Friends

Our travels on this day took us to town for errands, shopping, some lovely time spent at the Arboretum while it's decorated for Christmas, and finally, a really nice steak dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, complete with (for me) steak fries, baked potato soup, and three extra shrimp!

The most gorgeous sight I saw at the Arboretum - and there were many - was the view above, the Christmas decorations in the little cave (or grotto, as I like to think of it) at Childhood's Gate, the children's garden. If you look closely, you may see a few (fake, of course) tiny black bats on the ceiling! What a fun place for bats.

Tiny Tiger and the Moose insisted on going along, and we took a small Christmas tree, and the famous scarf and hat set. (Yes, we kept a close eye on that rascally little hat, and checked TWICE before leaving to make sure we had it; it's been known to go on walkabout.)

Taking turns wearing the festive winter hat and scarf set, the dynamic duo shared some holiday joy with a very little snake (see the extras), hung out with Ferdinand the bull (he got to wear the hat too!), and played fun visual games with the garden kaleidoscope in the children's garden. A good time was had by all!

I've got two photos, so let's have two songs. I was reminded as I titled this that the Beatles started out playing at a place called the Cavern Club, which I sort of think of as "the grotto." So let's let our first song be the Beatles, at the Cavern Club, performing I Saw Her Standing There. Our tune for the festive friends in the extras is Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks, with Whenever I Call You Friend.