Visit with Santa

Tonight we took Michael and Katie to see Santa at the mall.  When we arrived there, we realized that we had once again gone on "pet night".  Every Monday night in December until Christmas, you are allowed to bring your pet to the mall so that he or she can visit with Santa.  Some of these pets are dressed better than the kids there!  One good thing about going on pet night is that the pets don't take nearly as long to tell Santa what they want.  We were about the 8th or 9th customer in line but I think Michael and Katie were the first kids to see Santa that night.  We usually try to get there right when Santa gets back from dinner to minimize the wait.

This year was the first year that both kids were excited to see Santa.  They couldn't wait to tell him what they wanted.  Michael's list had 4 things and Katie asked for 3 things.  The picture wasn't the best but we are going more for the experience of seeing Santa. 

After we left, Katie said that she forgot to tell Santa that she would like some girl Legos too.  I asked Michael what he wanted to get Katie for Christmas later that night.  He told me girl Legos since Katie forgot to ask for those from Santa but he still wanted her to have them.  Wasn't that sweet?

Visit with Santa

We took Katie and Michael to see Santa tonight after Katie's dance class. Every year we try to go right when Santa gets back from "feeding the reindeer" to minimize our wait time. We hit it right on this year as we were the second ones in line to see Santa. Both kids were really excited to see him and kept talking about what they were going to tell him they wanted for Christmas.

When it was their turn to go up to sit on Santa's lap, Michael went right up and started telling Santa all about what he wanted this year. Katie was much more hesitant. At one point, she said "I am ready to go home". After a minute or two, Todd got her to go over and sit with Santa by showing her that Michael was already sitting with him. I may have also mentioned that we would go to McDonald's for dinner afterwards.

Once Katie sat on Santa's lap, she warmed up to him and told him that what she wanted. Of course, she wants all items related to Dora. Her main thing that she asked for is a Dora blanket. Michael has been asking about getting Star Wars Legos at home but he asked Santa for the Batmobile and a Batcave with Batman and Robin. I guess that must have been something he saw on TV. It will be interesting to see what Santa brings on Christmas Day.

Santa's elves took several pictures to get a decent one, which means both kids were looking at the camera with their eyes open. As we were walking away from Santa, Katie told me that she loves Santa. The visit went better than I could have ever expected!

Here are a few of the ones Todd took: