the evening of the first day

We visited the Festival of Lights this evening, the final night to do so. When I say "we", I refer to my first niece and her two little ones.
Although this was the second trip for each of us to enjoy the seasonal display, this was a much different experience. I had gone with my bfe, early in the season: December 12th, a chilly, rainy evening. She and the children had gone about a week later, on a very cold, very blustery night, with other family and friends in tow.
This first night of the new year was perfect. Slightly cool, warranting light jackets, but clear and calm. The cruise of our vehicle on the darkened racetrack allowed us ample time to "ooh" and "ahh" and snap photos to aid our memories. How nice to be able to stop along the way and roll down the window without fear of a wintery gust of freezing air or blowing rain!

The infield was best for all of us! No soggy ground, no bone-chilling wind, and the lights were on - yeah! The children could walk at their leisurely pace, drinking in the many sights, and we could as well. Oh, look! Those children are riding a camel! Over there! There's a pony pulling a carriage! And bonfires! Yeah!

First stop: the petting area, of course! No alpaca this time, but the two camels were riding herd on the menagerie of sheep, goats, and a Shetland pony. My niece and I took turns distracting the camels with food, so the children could get in close to the smaller animals for touches and feeding. Fun! I even threw handfuls of food into the enclosure, so the more timid sheep and pygmy goats would have some goodies to forage. The children enjoyed petting the pony, the braver sheep, the warm-horned yak, the many types of goats, and even the huge camels. So many different types of fur and horns!

Then we all washed our hands and made s'mores. That's right: s'mores! The concession stand not only had hot chocolate and warm cider, but the family pack of s'more fixin's. That meant 4 marshmallows and enough graham crackers and chocolate to complete the melty, crunchy goodness. Yum! Oh, and long toasting sticks, too. We taught the children to toast marshmallows, but they didn't really get the concept of s'more-making. That's okay, we all had a good time there by the fire!

Afterward, we went to the tent with the endangered animals. Lions, and tigers, and red-bottomed baboons, oh my! The big cats were sleeping, nestled around each other, but the baboon was alert and pacing, barking out orders on occasion. Fierce!

The parrots were squawking! The lemurs were luring us with their big eyes! And one of the four spider monkeys was entertaining himself, and us, but swinging back and forth on the jungle gym of bars in their cage. I even managed to snap a few photos of him in motion!

I don't know which of the four he was. Peter? Parker? Davy? Jones? Whichever, he was the only one with a waistbelt, so perhaps he is the celebrity who worked with Steve Carrell. Maybe!
We closed down the festival. We were the last to leave, and no one was even trying to hustle us out, they were allowing us to fully enjoy the experience and our company. But the lights of the displays on the racetrack had all been extinguished, save those few bidding us a "good night to all!" as we steered toward the exit... and straight on 'til morning.