We are Live

After 8 weekends of building we are finally Live. Last night friends and family came over for our official light up.

The light up usually begins with some road hockey for the kids then lights on. This year I created hockey boards on the matrix panels for while the kids were playing. At 6 pm the show officially kicks off for the season.

This year was much colder than previous years so it was critical to get the patio heater and fire-pit out and working. It was a balmy -22’c at the start of the day but warmed up to -7’c by the time the road hockey game started. I’d had trouble with my patio heater in years past so I thought I’d try and get it working, after replacing the regulator which was definitely not working I still couldn’t get it going, so I sprang for a new one. Final preparations were setting up food, hot chocolate station and getting the house ready for the 100+ people we were expecting.

Hot Chocolate Station

Sweet Delights (just like me)

The hockey game was intense and went non-stop from 4 pm until around 8 pm with up to 30 kids playing at one time.

When the lights went on at 6 pm I could finally relax. The show went off without a hitch and a good time was had by all. The show is now officially live running from 6-9 pm Sun-Thu and 5-10 pm Fri & Sat with shows running all day on Christmas Eve and Day.

Lights go on

All lit up (in green)

Watching the show from the street

Keeping warm(ish)

As part of the go live we asked our guests to bring Stuffed socks to support the Warm Feet for the street charity we are supporting this season. We had a great response from the guests donating 35 pairs of Stuffed Socks and 75 pairs of socks to be stuffed. The McKnight Mustangs Atom 2 team will be stuffing all the un-stuffed socks before taking them to the Mustard Seed.

Today I had a couple of things to finish on the display: put up Garage Door Cover and place the sock sack in the display. I didn’t have time to get the garage door cover on yesterday and it isn’t critical to the light up as we keep the garage door open for people to come in and out of the house. The socks sack was on the driveway to make it easier for people to throw their socks in upon arrival.