Start your new year's eve with a walk in the night woods lit by luminaries. 

The Wood Lake Nature Center located in Richfield is hosting their Candlelight & Ice New Year's Eve. This family friendly event is great for all ages. Kids and adults can roast marshmallows, build a craft, play some games as well as experience the highlight of the event: a trail of luminaries. Follow hundreds of luminaries that light up a long wooded trail. You may get lucky and have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of some four legged animals including deer, fox, rabbits and other critters that call this area home. The cost of the event is $4.00 and runs from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm on new year's eve.

The center also hosts moonlight snowshoeing, winter photography, and other events throughout the year so check their site often or call: (612) 861-9365.

Other family friendly ideas over the holidays:

St. Paul James J Hill Mansion Holiday Tours & Stories (All Ages)
Christmas Tours: costumed actors show how the family prepared for the holidays a century ago - Saturdays and Sundays during December. Victorian Christmas Stories: 19th-century Christmas traditions told during a theater performance of holiday stories, including "Gift of the Magi," and excerpts from "A Christmas Carol." Includes tour of the Hill House, decorated for the holidays. Plus more tour options: check their site for more holiday events!
Dates: Through December
Cost: $6 - $10
Phone: (651) 297-2555

U of MN Chaska Landscape Arboretum: Making Spirits Bright (All Ages)
Dates: Daily through January 3
Price: $9; free Thursdays
Description: See some incredible gingerbread houses, the Great Hall of decorated Christmas trees, outdoor decorations, family activities, music, children's story time and more.
Phone: (952) 443-1400

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