A Chat with Santa

We took the kids (wow, that is still weird to say) to Willow Bend Mall to see Santa on Tuesday afternoon, Brad's last day of "paternity leave." We weren't quite sure what to expect. Aiden's first Santa visit involved screaming, last year he frowned and wouldn't get near Santa without Mommy and Daddy sitting next to Santa with him, so we didn't exactly get our hopes up this time around--we would have considered it a victory if there was no bloodshed or screaming involved. A couple of weeks ago, we had tried to get Aiden to visit with Santa during a routine shopping trip--there was no line, Aiden looked cute, and we thought we'd take advantage of the opportunity, but he had adamantly refused. Something must have changed his mind, though, because on Tuesday, he was psyched about sitting on Santa's lap. "I'm going to give him a big hug!" he proclaimed in the car on the way to the mall.


We got there just as Santa was coming off of a "milk and cookie break" so there were only a couple of families ahead of us. Aiden enjoyed the "Polar Express" snow globes exhibit and the artificial snow fall (which just annoyed Brad and I) while we waited. When it was his turn, he hopped right up on Santa's knee, gave him a hug, and began recounting his list of wants and desires for Christmas. He even smiled big for the camera and hammed it up a bit for the Big Man. His Daddy and I were both relieved and very proud--our little guy is growing up! This Christmas promises to be a magical one--I can't wait 'til Christmas morning!

Last year's "Santa picture"

This year's "Santa picture"