Yankee Candle, Williamsburg, Virginia

We didn't have any plans for our last day of vacation, but we managed to fill our day with no trouble at all.

When we had lunch with our friends they told us about a big Yankee Candle store in the area. I LOVE Yankee Candle so when Tony found the store and remarked how HUGE it was, I wanted to go see for myself.

This isn't like other Yankee stores, it's a "flagship" store which means GINORMOUS and AWESOME apparently. There were hundred's of candles as well as all the latest and greatest accessories. There was a popcorn shop, fudge shop, toy store (a toy train runs throughout), Christmas store (where it snowed every 4 minutes), home goods and general stores. It was like a Yankee/country style mall. 

There are several interactive activities onsite as well. The kids each made their very own scented candles. Basically, you grab a jar that already has a wick inside of it, place it under a tube of scented wax "granules" and push a button. There are several scents to choose from and you can do as many or as few as you'd like. Dakota and Harper used all of the scents available while Landon was a bit more judicious. (Somehow they all came out smelling really good!) Once your jar is filled to the very top, you hand it over to one of the employees who put it under a warmer to melt the wax a bit. 15 minutes later, you have your very own candle!

There is also an opportunity to create your own wax ornament by dipping a white wax shape/number/letter into different colors of wax. I let the two little kids get the first letter of their name to dip. Harper did his on his own but Dakota didn't want to do hers by herself so the man helping up did hers per her directions. 

Since Landon didn't dip an ornament, he got to make a wax hand. (There is a height restriction for this activity because you have to be able to reach your hand into the wax without being held up by another person. You had to be taller than 42 inches. Harper was tall enough but Dakota wasn't.)

We spent two hours in that place and it was a great way to spend the morning. I was surprised that the kids were happy for as long as they were and that Tony didn't pass out when I spent as much as I did!