Christmas at the Dallas Arboretum

Christmas is a magical time of year!  There are so many wonderful events in the Dallas area to help families celebrate this joyous holiday season but one of our favorite Christmas traditions is to visit Dallas Arboretum, especially their 12 Days of Christmas exhibit!  There are lights, Christmas carols, hot chocolate, beautiful gardens, plus lots of fun activities for the whole family!

The 12 Days of Christmas exhibit features twelve beautiful Victorian-style gazebos throughout the gardens.  Each gazebo is numbered and represents one of the 12 Days of Christmas complete with charming people and whimsical animals that move and spin around the gazebo as if dancing to the Christmas carols that are playing outside. We have visited the 12 Days of Christmas exhibit for several years now but we have never attended it at night.  Wow!  It is even prettier at night!


One of my favorites is Gazebo 7: Seven Swans A-Swimming.  Look how beautiful it is!

But pictures just can't capture the beauty of the swans swimming around the frozen fountain.  You will have to see it to believe it.

Here is a snippet of video of the Gazebo 12: Twelve Drummers Drumming...


Reliant is a major sponsor for the 12 Days of Christmas event and you can get a cool light-up Reliant Santa hat just like we did.  They are available November 29, December 5, 13, 14, 23 from 6-9 p.m. at the main ticket booth.

I think the guys enjoyed Gazebo 10: Ten Lords A-Leaping the most because all of the Lords were all on ice skates!  And yes, even my teen wore a light-up hat!

There is a map to show you where each of the gazebos are located but you can just wander along the paths and find each one of them. 

While you are strolling the gardens, make sure you stop by the 30-foot spruce Christmas tree in the center of the garden.  It is so beautiful.

Near the Christmas tree you will find the Café on the Green which offers special holiday drinks like pumpkin lattes, mulled wine, and Mexican hot chocolate as well as treats like pumpkin bars, holiday paninis, and even a bowl of soup in a Sourdough bread bowl. We didn't have time to stop in at the Café but we did find several stations along the main path for warm beverages and even a station for snacks.

I was such a happy momma spending the evening with my family among the gardens filled with all of the sparkle of the Christmas season!

Of course, even without all of the extra dazzle of Christmas, the Arboretum is still an amazing garden full of the wonders of nature so take your time as you are walking through to be sure you don't miss a thing!

There are so many exciting things to see at do during Christmas at the Dallas Arboretum.  Here is a listing of some of them....

The 12 Days of Christmas, Daily, 9-5, November 9-December 31

Adult: $15, Seniors (65 or older): $12, Children (2-12 years): $10
Enjoy elaborately decorated Victorian-style gazebos on display every day during the holiday festival.

The 12 Days of Christmas at Night featuring 500,000 lights, Wednesday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m., November 14-December 30

Adults: $20, Seniors (65 or older): $15 Children (2-12 years): $10
The garden will be open late five nights a week for a special, lighted night-time experience.

Holiday Tea, Daily, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Bring family and friends together and create an annual tradition with holiday tea at Restaurant DeGolyer, lavishly decorated for the season. Reservations required. Call 214-515-6511. Ages 13 and up are permitted in the tea room.

Visits with Santa, Wednesday evenings, 6-9 p.m., November 14-December 19, Saturday and Sunday, 12-4 p.m., November 25-December 24

Santa is back in the garden this year in the perfect holiday setting--Crape Myrtle Allee, resplendent with twinkling lights. Share Christmas wishes with the jolly old man and take a photo to commemorate the occasion. The Dallas Arboretum Volunteer Advisory Board will be taking pictures of the memorable moments for donations, and guests are welcome to take the photo home.

Elves Workshop

Children can visit the Elves Workshop in the Ann Stuart Courtyard where they can write a letter to Santa to let him know their Christmas wish list and then drop it in the mail box there to make its way to the North Pole.  They can also create a Santa hat, decorate a reindeer using candy canes, toss a "snowball", pin the nose on the snowman, or make a holiday hat or card to give to someone special.  The Elves Workshop will be open from 6:00 - 9:00 pm Wednesday-Sunday evenings through December 30th.

Outdoor Movie, "The Polar Express", November 29, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Martin Rutchik Concert Stage and Lawn
Nothing brings back holiday memories quite like the movie, "The Polar Express". Guests can take a ride on the joyful train and explore the mysteries of the North Pole all the way up to Santa's front door. Bring a friend, bundle up and enjoy one of the holidays most beloved movies.

Lake Highlands Wranglers Performance, December 2, 2 p.m. at the Entry Plaza

Watch the local Wranglers dance and perform to some holiday tunes.

Pride of Texas Music Festival, December 7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Jonsson Color Garden and Café on the Green

Hear all the holiday classics as Dallas metroplex students perform songs of the season. Ensembles perform at Jonsson Color Garden and choirs perform in front of the 30-foot Christmas tree.

Holiday Activities for the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden

Animal Adventures with the Dallas Zoo (Appropriate for all ages), November 12, 11:15 a.m.-Noon

The Dallas Zoo is bringing a few of their favorite friends for an animal encounter in the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden. Stop by for a wild adventure with interesting critters.

TECH Truck (Appropriate for Ages 5 and up), November 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at The Moody Oasis

Tinker, Engineer, Create, Hack!  Join the TECH Truck staff from the Perot Museum in the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden for a hands-on experience.

Holiday Hunt for Santa's Helpers (All ages can participate!), November 24-December 24, throughout the Children's Adventure Garden

Help look for Santa's helpers, like a frog on a log, a deer right here, a fox in the rocks, a squirrel on a whirl, an owl on a trowel, or a bobcat in a hat. Take a picture with four (4) of Santa's helpers and bring them to the Exploration Center to redeem a prize.  

Letter-Writing to Santa (Appropriate for Ages 5 and up), Mondays-Fridays Only, All Day, November 26-December 24 in the Exploration Center

Come to the letter-writing workshop to write a letter to Santa. Special paper, pens, stickers; everything you would need to catch Santa's attention is provided. Some of Santa's helpers may stop by with some inside tips.

Creative Corner: Oh What Fun! (All ages can participate!), Saturdays and Sundays Only, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., December 1-25 in the Exploration Center

Stop by the Exploration Center and create a holiday craft to take home.

Plant Lab: Let It Snow (Appropriate for ages 6 and up), December 3-23, 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. in the Exploration Center

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... in the Plant Lab this December! Explore the wonders of melting, snowflakes, and endothermic reactions.

Plant Lab Extravaganza (Appropriate for ages 6 and up), December 24-30, 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. in the Exploration Center

December 24 - Strawberry DNA
December 26 - Elephant's Toothpaste
December 27 - Monster Molecule Mist
December 28 - Starchy Night
December 29 - How Sweet It Is
December 30 - Let It Snow

Creative Corner: New Year's Wishes Sponsored by Neiman Marcus, December 27-31, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Exploration Center

As the new year sneaks closer, warm up in the Exploration Center and create a wishing wand.  Using plant parts and other natural objects, decorate wands to take home and bring joy to those around. Frolic through the garden, using a wishing wand to wish New Year's good luck to everyone.

Discounts!!  

BOGO Wednesdays

Every Wednesday through December 26
9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Buy one, get one admission every Wednesday. 

The Dallas Arboretum is located at 8525 Garland Road, Dallas, Texas.  For questions, please contact the staff at 214-515-6615.  You can also visit their website or follow the Dallas Arboretum Facebook page.

The Saguaro National Park

A few more fun pictures from the morning before heading out to the National Park....

The choya cactus is also called a jumping cactus because you just barely touch a spine and it seems to completely jump on to you.  Rachel experienced this first hand.

Nicholas wanted to come to the desert to find scary insects and reptiles and amphibians so he was out turning over rocks to see what he could find.  He found this giant scorpion!

Stuart put a quarter down on the ground to give perspective of just how big this guy is.

We planned to attend a guided hike at Saguaro National Park this morning.  The hike was called The Giant Cactus and it was focused on the saguaro cactus as well as other plant life int he Sonoran Desert.  The bed and breakfast where we were staying is in the Sonoran Desert so we didn't think much about the drive.  However, when we mapped out where we needed to go for the hike, we realized that it was in the  Saguaro National Park East and we were currently on the west side.  A bit more of a drive to get there now?  Yes!  It takes about an hour to drive from one side to the other.  So we high tailed it over there and skidded into the hike just in time.  

Mr. Jeff was out guide and he walked us through the desert wash as he talked about how the Sonoran Desert is an arboreal desert meaning a desert with trees.  I had never heard of a desert with trees!  He first talked to us about the differences between shrubs and trees.  Trees have a central trunk, have a woody structure, and over 15 feet tall.  We walked through the wash as he pointed out various examples of both.  We learned about the Catclaw Acacia, Desert Blackberry shrub, Mexican Cross Buckthorn, Desert Ragweed, and the Palo Verde tree, just to name a few.  We also learned about animals of the desert such as the peccary (javelina), coyote, fox, white-nosed coati aka desert monkey, mountain lion, and, believer it or not, jaguars!  The jaguars of the Sonoran Desert are the biggest cats in America.

The kids got small binoculars back at Carlsbad Caverns and they enjoyed trying them out on our hike.

Why is Rachel obsessed with touching every cactus?

Next we learned about the beautiful saguaro cactus.  Saguaros are the largest cactus in the United States.  They usually reach up to 40 feet tall but some have grown taller than that.  The A long time ago cattle were on the east side of the park and they grazed on young saguaros.  As a result there are only 500,000 saguaros on the east side of the park compared to the 1.3 million saguaros on the west side.  However, the saguaros that survived on the east side are taller than those on the west.

Mr. Jeff showed us a dried specimen of a saguaro cactus.  He showed us that the center part is where the woody ribs are and the spongy flesh that surrounds it holds the water.  

Although saguaros grow very tall, most of their roots only grow about 4-6 inches below the ground.  However, they radiate outwards about as far as the cactus is tall.  They do have one main tap root that grows down a couple of feet.

This cactus probably froze at some point which caused damage to the arm structure causing them to droop.  I love the way it looks like it is reaching out for a hug!

This is the biggest saguaro in the park and it has 32 arms!

Saguaros can serve like apartment buildings for woodpeckers and other birds so you often see lots of little holes in the arms where birds have made their homes.

Mr. Jeff gave us some saguaro cactus seeds to try to grow some at home.  But he laughed.  Saguaro cacti are so slow growing that we wouldn't live to see it grow very much.  After about 10 years it might only grow about one and a half inches tall!  

After the guided hike was complete, we ate our packed lunches and went back to explore the wash area on our own.

Nicholas was quick to start prodding holes trying to scare up some animal life to study.

And Rachel used sticks to help her turn rocks over to see what she could find.

I was more obsessed with the plants and rocks of the desert.  Check out those scary spines!

This is the Palo Verde tree, the state tree of Arizona.  It is a wiry looking thing and all of the branches are distinctly green.

I didn't find out what this plant is but its white thorns were striking to me.

As I wandered looking at plants and rocks, I often looked up to find scenes like this.  A creature has been spotted and they are trying to catch it to look at it more closely.

In this case it was the common side-blotched lizard.  

We decided to move on to another area of the park so we drove to the Loma Verde trailhead where we were greeted with these amazing cactus flowers.  I have heard of a fish hook cactus and I can only imagine that is what this guy is.  Do you see those hook-like spines?  

We found more giant saguros here.  They are so amazing and majestic.  We never got tired of seeing them.

We made it to Pink Hill and, of course, Nicholas had to climb it.

Here is an example of something we learned earlier from Mr. Jeff.  Saguaros often grow beneath other trees that act like "nurse trees".  The trees protect the young cactus as it slowly grows taller.  Then about the time that the cactus gets large enough to no longer need protection, the other tree has reached the end of its lifespan and dies away.  

This is a type of choya cactus.  I believe it is a staghorn choya.  Not surprisingly, choya means "joint" in Spanish.

Here is some parasitic mistletoe growing in a tree.

I loved watching Nicholas today.  He was definitely in his element as we hiked through the desert.  He loves to hike, climb, and explore for interesting creatures.  We tried to let him discover and learn on his own as much as we could.  

Another lizard was spotted but he ran down a hole!

It was another common side-blotched lizard.

We found the old Loma Verde mine site and we even found remnants of copper on the ground.

This is an octotillo cactus.  It is my favorite after the mighty saguaro.  It has long stems tipped with red tubular flowers.

I have been amazed at just how much plant life is in this desert, especially flowers!

It was getting late and we were tired and hungry so we found the closest restaurant we could get to.  The kids got a picture of this road runner while we waited for dinner to arrive.

We sat on the patio and had an amazing view of Tucson and the mountains.

What a great day it has been learning about life in the desert and exploring its beauty on our own.  We could spend several days here and still not explore all of it.

Sunset, cactus, mountains.  So beautiful!

Next post for Road Trip 2018:

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Previous Post for Road Trip 2018:

On the Road to Arizona