Sundance Santa

 Saturday morning we headed to see Sundance Santa.  He arrived at 11am and we got there about 15 minutes early, not knowing how big of a crowd to expect.  We usually go in the evening and this was sooo much better.  Not only was the weather nicer, but the wait also!  We were 3rd or 4th in line, so it went pretty fast.  Elizabeth was very excited.
 

 Even Santa was surprised when she jumped up into the sleigh and ran straight to him with a great big hug!  All the elves said, "Awww..."

 She was very excited to talk to him.  David & Rebekah wouldn't acknowledge him, but at least they sat in the sleigh and smiled for pictures! 

Santa has been sighted...

Last Thursday I took David to the elementary Christmas party for our home school co-op. We were enjoying ourselves when a special guest walked in!

David had his back to the door, so I casually said, "Oh, look who's here." David turned around & started grinning. He said, "It's Santa!" in a hushed tone. Then he looked at me and asked, "How did he get here?"

That took me by surprise, so I replied that I didn't know, maybe you should ask him.

Santa mingled with the kids for a while, then went & sat down in a comfy chair in front of a cardboard fireplace. Without prompting, the children began to line up, as did moms with cameras... which I had forgotten to bring. : ( Fortunately, another mom was willing to take some pictures for me!

The first thing David said to Santa was, "How did you arrive here today?" To which Santa informed him that he came in his pick-up truck. I think he might have explained why he wasn't in the sleigh, and it was probably weather related, but I didn't hear all he said & David didn't tell me. He asked what David wanted & of course, David told him Legos.

Later, Santa was mingling again. David asked, "Is it ok if I walk around the room with Santa?" I saw no problem with that, so I said ok. They didn't speak to each other, but David just followed Santa around as he mingled. Santa would put his hand on David's shoulder occasionally. Before long, David was first in a line of about 5 kids that were just following Santa as he walked around the room.

I did not realize Santa was going to be at the party, because I left Elizabeth at home for her nap time. But Rebekah was with us. She just starred at him.

I intended to take the kids to see Santa when he stopped by a local bank, but Dad needed to run errands in the city during Santa's hours, so we caught Santa in the city so that Elizabeth could get in on the picture, too.

It was cold, as you can tell! Again, David told Santa he wanted Legos. Elizabeth said she wanted a kitty cat. (That's my girl!) I think she's referring to the pink kitty cat she's been talking about ever since we made the shoebox Christmas gifts.

Note to people who give my kids presents: You don't have to try to meet their Santa wishes... we've got those covered.

Tiny Talk Tuesday Visits Santa

This is a scan of the "official" photo that they took. I say "they" because the photographers were teenagers with digital cameras, not a professional photographer! Don't be fooled by David's face - he was laughing!

Edited to add: I thought I had set this to post at the right time
& just realized it was still set in draft! Sorry for the delay to all you
who've been waiting for it! : )

Saturday we made a trip to visit Jolly Old Saint Nick. (I'm sure David would not approve of me calling him that.) I've never really made a big deal about Santa, but we go get the picture with him every year, we read 'Twas The Night Before Christmas at some point & we leave out milk & cookies. I don't think we've ever actually discussed the particulars of Santa, though. We spend more time talking about the Nativity & I've been really trying to teach David about giving this year.

David was actually excited about telling Santa what he wanted this year. I just figured he was at that age. Elizabeth was less sure about the whole thing.

We stood in line for probably 30 minutes waiting for our turn. I explained how it would work: We go up this ramp, you get in the sleigh with Santa, he'll ask you what you want for Christmas, we take a picture, then we go down the other ramp and wait at the bottom for our picture. Simple enough, right?

First off, David went right into the sleigh and started talking to Santa. Elizabeth didn't want to get in the sleigh. Dad was a trooper and saved my photos by getting in the sleigh with them. Yeah, Dad!

Well, Santa was interested in having a conversation. You think he'd get tired of that. He asked David if he'd been good, if he was going to leave out cookies, and what he wanted for Christmas. David said, "I want a new toy for Christmas." Then he waited for Santa to ask him what kind of toy. Santa didn't ask quite right, so Dad prompted David to tell him what kind of toy he wanted. "A toy Wall-E," David replied in a quiet voice. Santa didn't hear him, so Dad helped again. Santa kept asking if that was all he wanted, are you sure there's nothing else? I was wondering if Santa knew who Wall-E was and then if Santa really wanted every child to come to him with a hundred item list.

David showed Santa his Wall-E shirt that he was wearing. We took the pictures & headed down the ramp.

While waiting for their picture to print out. David asked for his toy Wall-E. Dad explained to him that we don't get it right now. Today, we just visited with Santa, showed him the shirt and told him that's what you wanted. Dad said, then Santa might bring you one on Christmas. David replied,

"Can he bring it out right now?"

Um... I think we've misunderstood this Santa photo-op... which is all *I* was considering this to be! It took some convincing but we were able to leave without tears!

And Elizabeth was so cute when she would say, "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

The Day that Wore Me Out

I'm not sure I've recovered yet... I got up early (like 5:15 early) with Grandma Saturday morning & we did something special together. Click to see what got us up so early... : ) Dad & the kids were still sleeping when Grandma picked me up.

I was back at home by lunch time. David enjoyed some play time in the sand box while Elizabeth napped after lunch. He got just a little bit sandy. When he saw his dirty face in the mirror, he was so proud of himself! He had to have an early bath, because we had more stuff to do on this eventful day...




While I was out with Grandma, I found this light-up Wall-E Christmas shirt! (I'm surprised by Disney this year - I've hardly seen any Wall-E clothes, toys, accessories, or anything. But Cars is still all over the place!) Ever since David decided to be a robot for Halloween, then Grandma introduced him to Wall-E about a month ago, anything robot is big stuff at our house! My first intention was that this shirt would be a Christmas present. But then I realized it's a Christmas shirt, so he should be wearing it before Christmas. But I'm positive he will wear it as long as it fits! Well, I think this shirt just made his day! And now, he was able to wear it for our visit to Santa!

David started talking to Santa immediately upon entering the sleigh. I'll tell more about that on Tiny Talk Tuesday! : ) Just wait... you'll get a good chuckle out of it!

From there, we got something to eat (the pregnant woman couldn't wait), I ran inside one store & finished my Christmas shopping (now I just have to finish the things I'm making!), and then Dad ran inside Lowe's to get some light bulbs.

And we finally made it to Frankie's Family Christmas Party:

Frankie's mom & Dad's grandmother were sisters. I think that makes all those kids cousins, to some degree, with David & Elizabeth... right? There were kids & people & food all over the place. It was a lot of fun. And I think it was about 10:30 when we got home. Whew.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Today was our annual visit to Santa! David looks so big in this year's picture - 3 1/2 years old!


Elizabeth never would smile, but she didn't cry, either, so I consider this a good first visit to Santa's lap at a few days shy of 11 months old!


Here are their close-ups. Santa asked David what he wanted. David replied, "A Christmas card."

The first ever together-in-Santa's-lap shot (of my kids, at least!):

And this Mom thinks this is the BEST picture with Santa of all time:

Cousin Will even got in on the action... after some hefty persuasion from his friend Haden and from Santa himself! I was surprised by how persistent Santa was! Looks like Will might get more than a lump of coal after all!

Wanna see how David has grown? Check out his previous Santa pictures:

2006

2005

2004 (is a Polaroid in his baby album)

David Visits Santa

We visited Santa, who was visiting the fire station, today. David didn't really care who he was sitting on as long as he got to eat his cookie. He never said anything to Santa, and I'm not sure if he even looked at the old guy! He just sat there, eating his cookie, twirling a candy cane, watching the firemen & other kids that were running around the engine bay.


And OK, by the end of the day I just didn't feel like walking blocks to get a good spot to watch the Parade of Lights, so David & I stayed home this evening. We did rent Cars (the movie), however, and both greatly enjoyed it!

A Fun & Festive Day

There's a lot of pictures today...

Our day started early after David woke up about 5 times during the night because his nose was stopped up. Poor baby. Since our plans to visit family this weekend didn't pan out, we're making the most of the weekend.

Mom started putting the Christmas lights up outside before the traffic picked up, while David sat in his stroller & watched. We sang Christmas carols while we worked. Dad said the ladder truck wouldn't come help with the lights, so when the house got too tall, Dad climbed up on the roof & finished the job.

David was pooped from his rough night and busy morning - and fell asleep during lunch. Look where he was leaning against the tray and a Cheerio imprinted on his tummy!!!

By 1pm, Dad took Mom & David with him to an IAFF (International Association of Firefighters) meeting at the lake house (which turns out to me more of a meeting hall that the Union owns). We were there until 3:30 & the meeting hadn't taken place yet... but there was food & drink (fajitas & an assortment of beverages), lots of visiting & jokes out on the patio, kids were playing on the playground (which had a pole to slide down), older kids were fishing. David walked to the playground, swang, played in the sand, and wanted to get in the lake! It was hard to believe this day took place in December. The camera was in the car, so we didn't get any pictures there.

Later, we stopped by the central fire station where Santa Claus was visiting with the children. Santa was in a recliner in front of Rescue One in the engine bay. David cried. Then he wouldn't get back in Santa's lap. After some cookies, we were able to get closer to Santa... Santa gave David another cookie & we got at least one picture with no crying!

We came back home for a little rest, then we hit the festivities again. Here we are waiting for the Parade of Lights. David enjoyed all the cars & floats covered in lights, but almost fell asleep again!

And when we arrived back home, look how good the house looked!!! David & Mom watched "A Muppet Family Christmas" to wind down.