Last night we headed out on what promised to be a productive, delicious, and magical family outing. First, Costco for some essentials and dinner at the food court. Then, on to Bright Nights in Springfield's Forest Park. Both kids had napped well at school, Quynh had just nursed, the dog had been out to pee, our shopping list was in order, and we even remembered the Bright Nights $3 off coupon. It was going to be perfect.
While zipping down 91 South toward Costco we realized neither of us had much cash and both the Costco food court and Bright Nights seem like the type of places that wouldn't take credit cards. Hmmmm...what to do? No Problem! I pulled out my handy-dandy new iphone and asked it to show me all the nearest ATMs, which it gladly did (and then even gave me turn-by-turn directions from my current location.) Awesome. No little bump in the road like a lack of cash was going to ruin our evening.
Tai, meanwhile, was all questions about this whole Bright Nights thing. "It's a park?" "Do we get out of the car?" "Can we play there?" "Will Santa be there?" "Can we go see him?" "Where is Springfield?"
Costco shopping? Check.
Dinner of hot dogs, chicken bakes, and an apple? Check.
Small talk with the folks eating at the table next to us? Check. (Woman: "You have beautiful children." Tai: "I'm cute!")
Time to head on to the Main Event.
A mere 10 minutes later and we pulled up to the main gate of Forest Park, only to see the giant unlit Bright Nights signs on the closed gate at the entrance to the completely dark park.* I sat there with my mouth hanging open for a second, wondering what was going on and (more importantly) how to break it to Tai. Then I fumbled in my wallet for the coupon and read the Open Hours again. Here is (verbatim) what it says:
OPEN: Wed-Sun: Nov 25, 2009 - Dec 6, 2009
Nightly, Dec 9, 2009 - Jan 2, 2010.
Last week, when we planned this outing, I read this statement up through the word "nightly." Why would I need to read on? Wed-Sun until Dec 6th and then nightly after that, right? No such luck. What they really mean is Wed-Sun through Dec 8th!! Argh! So there we were, on Dec 8th, with no lights to look at. We told Tai and he immediately started asking "why?" in a high pitched, quivery voice that indicated tears might be imminent.
Luckily, our friends live right around the corner from Forest Park so we called and were granted permission to pop in. Tears averted. Friends visited. Leggos played. Baby nursed. All was well, and Tai learned a valuable lesson somewhere along the way. (The lesson being "read the fine print, because your mother doesn't.") Now we just have to find a time to go back down to Springfield now that Bright Nights is actually open nightly.
*Perhaps the saddest part was the bus from a retirement home that pulled up to the dark, locked gate of Forest Park right before we did. I wonder if they had a Plan B to implement so that all the retirees would not burst into tears?
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