Gilroy Gardens Holiday Lights

The last time Lauren went to Gilroy Gardens she wasn't even two years old. She went with her Grandma, myself, her cousins, Aunt Marie and Uncle Mike. I remember it was early in the season, and still cold so we were all bundled up. She had a great time, and I thought we'd go a lot more often. But it's just a bit of a drive to get there, so we haven't been there again, until this past Saturday night. I've been getting emails from Great America, where we have a season pass, reminding me we could go to Gilroy Gardens to see their Holiday Light show, and get discounted admission for having a season pass to Great America.

So we decided to make a day of it and spend the afternoon shopping at the outlet malls before heading over to Gilroy Gardens (which didn't open until 4 PM). The shopping at the outlet malls turned out to be a bad idea. The parking lots were so full it took forever to find a parking spot. When we finally did find a parking spot, it turned out the car 3 over from where we parked had its front window broken and stuff stolen (before we got there). We walked around, but everything was so crowded, it was a little unpleasant, so we didn't stay long. Instead we drove to the Walmart Supercenter in Gilroy and bought some groceries for our holiday party. Then we had an early dinner and drove to Gilroy Gardens.

At this point Lauren was a little cranky from the shopping crowds and asking to go home. But we knew that once she saw Gilroy Gardens she'd perk up and want to stay, and of course we were right. Unfortunately the night turned out to be a lot cooler than we expected so I kept her bundled up in my fleece jacket and I wore an extra jacket that Lars had in the trunk of his car. She loved the lights, the kids rides, and the Charlie Brown Christmas show they had in the amphitheater. All-in-all a very successful evening, even if were a bit cold. She fell asleep promptly in the car as we pulled away from Gilroy Gardens later that evening.