Holiday Happenings in Morris County for This Week

Monday/Tuesday: Check out the free holiday lights music show (every 20 minutes from 6pm-9pm) at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn. See my blog post for more info, including a video. Also enjoy a craft show, free photos with Santa, free music concerts and hot cocoa and warm cider.

Wednesday: 10am-8pm visit the Birchwood Manor in Whippany to see over 100 exhibitors displaying holiday arts and crafts for your Christmas shopping pleasure. Admission $3.

Thursday: It's not too late to buy tickets to see Jingle Bell Rock with Eddie Money, Lou Gramm and Mickey Thomas perform at the Mayo Arts Center in Morristown. Tickets start at $47 and you can buy them here.

Friday: The free holiday light show at the Turtleback Zoo is up and running between 5 and 9 pm. Over 100,000 bulbs to make the zoo merry and bright.

Always check out Morris County Mom's Kids' Calendar to see what's going on and stay tuned for a new blog post towards the end of the week with the weekend's holiday happening lineup.

Free Kids Christmas Train Ride Around the Morristown Green

For a complete list of Morris County Christmas Events don't miss my calendar page *click here*!

Tonight around 6 pm, we headed out shopping, but first I decided to take a quick detour to the Morristown Green.

I will post pictures when I can, but rest assured that the Green was all glammed up, with lights, ornaments and a huge tree with large glistening poinsettia ornaments. My toddlers had fun skipping along the many paths around the green and running in the open grassy areas.

There are a number of scheduled activities that you can read about here, among which are ice sculpting, whcih we enjoyed checking out.

The train is a small, electric train that parents can also hop on with the kids. It's totally free and runs on the weekends through Dec. 18. You get two laps around the Green per ride. Both my little ones loved it.

Next to the train stop is Santa's house, where you can visit Santa and have a photo taken ($10) and receive a free goody bag.

For all times and schedules, check out my calendar page!

Free Holiday Lights Spectacular at Papermill Playhouse in Millburn

This looks really cool. I'm thinking that some night after dinner when it's a little boring, we could take a ride and go check out the light show.





Holiday lights run every 20 minutes between 6pm and 9 pm from now through Dec. 24 (closing day). 


From Wed-Sun each week they are having the play Irving Berlin's White Christmas, therefore, parking is restricted to patrons on those days. If you're just going to check out the lights, the days to go are Monday & Tuesday.


In addition to the lights on Mondays and Tuesdays, you will discover:

• A holiday shopping bazaars in the lobby/art gallery from 6pm-9pm
• FREE photos with Santa in the FM Kirby Carriage House
• A variety of different performers performing free holiday concerts at 6 pm and sometimes at 7:30pm. To see the actual performers go here.
• In addition, they have a restaurant, the Carriage House onsite, which offers guests free hot cocoa and warm apple cider on Mondays/Tuesdays.

Christmas Is In the Air!

As soon as the Thanksgiving plates are cleared, the holiday events kick off in Morris County.

I hope you didn't miss the horsedrawn carriage rides, hot cider, live Christmas carolers and displays in downtown Denville yesterday. Even if you didn't make it, there are plenty of fun activities to get in the spirit this weekend:

Saturday
1 pm: the Boonton holiday parade kicks off at 1 pm. Hang out by Santaland (across the street from GraceLord Park) to enjoy a small petting zoo, free cookies and beverages and pony & train rides. And, a visit from the big guy himself.
5 pm (through 9 pm): Free holiday lights show at the Turtleback Zoo

Sunday
1 pm (through 7 pm): Kids can take a free ride on a small train around the Morristown Green.
1 pm: Free filled Christmas mint making candy demo at AC Moore stores.
1:30 pm: Mooseltoe the musical is on at the Community Theatre in Morristown. It's about a moose that wants to fly with Santa's reindeer. You can buy tickets here.
2 pm: Denville's holiday parade begins at 2 pm. After the parade Santa will resume his rightful position within Santaland the lights will officially go on!
5 pm (through 9 pm): Free holiday lights show at the Turtleback Zoo

For more details, be sure to check out the calendar page on my blog! Happy holiday happening hopping!

20% off at the Christmas Tree Shoppes

Yay! I love the Christmas Tree Shop. There is one right in the Rockaway Mall parking lot. You can find great deals on things that didn't sell well at their sister store, Bed Bath and Beyond. Comforters, curtains, window shades, picture frames and more. This store also includes a Harmon's beauty product area. I have found good deals on toys, as well as party supplies here.

Here's an awesome, 20% off your total purchase coupon.

Two book reviews

There are a lot of children's books that I find boring. Most actually. Here are two books that we just read that I think are worth sharing:

It really gets fun when kids start to use adjectives. For my daughter this started around 2 1/2 years old and is continuing well into 3. Things are "too polka dotty," "too baggy," etc. The melding of personality and language development is really fun. This book presents visuals, along with the vocabulary in a fun, creative way. My daughter loves this book and I highly recommend it!

This is another great book. It is one of the few kids books where you can't really predict the ending. Mother animals encourage their young to hurry. The pictures are beautifully illustrated, with rich colors. As you get to the end of the book (I'm killing this for you, I know), you see that all of the farm animals are congregating to witness the hatching of a new chick. It's very cute and an easy and quick read.