This year, I was kicking myself that I STILL had shopping, especially since I started before Thanksgiving. To give ourselves a shopping break we thought we would take the kids over to the Bass Pro Shop and let them see Santa.
A few weeks prior, daddy's friend from work put in a special phone call to his elf friend and asked Santa stop by while he was out collecting letters before Christmas.
Here he is reading Lila and Graham's letter.
Yes, Santa came to Mason's house! Both Lila and Graham were not so sure about this. Lila did end up giving him a pound when he arrived and a hug when he left. She did not, however want to sit on his lap. Surprisingly, neither did Graham. They both clung to their daddy like no other. Even after mommy took a turn on Santa's lap, they still didn't want to.
He even bribed them with some candy canes and gummy life-savors, but it didn't work. (Although everytime Lila sees them she is sure to say that that is what Santa gave her.)
This actually helped me make up my mind that I would not stand in line for hours to see Santa to only have them not participate. However, since we there and the line wasn't too long, we thought we would give it a shot. Well, soon before it was our turn, Santa had to take a break to go check on his reindeer. Boo! I guess we do want to make sure they are feeling ok. :) Anyway, we went back by after a little more shopping and the line was even longer. I had come to terms with the fact that I would not be getting official Santa pictures, so I was ok with that. We went to grab some dinner before heading over to see the lights. While we were at dinner, Lila kept asking where Santa was and even told me she wanted to sit on his lap. Michael and I looked at each other with that, "Yeah right, not in a million years" look. However, after dinner we went out of the food court and Lo and Behold, guess who was there with not a soul in line?!?! SANTA! After riding the "up and down horsey" I asked Lila is she wanted to go over and see Santa.
When I pointed him out, she took off running saying the words this post is titled..."Santa, we've been looking for you." She sprinted up to the ropes and tried to climb under them. We eventually led her in the right direction around to see him. Hearing those words and watching her run up to Santa to give him a hug made the whole trip worth it! It totally melted my heart. I think she blurted out she wanted a Dora Backpack and babydoll before she made it to his lap. I am not sure he even heard her, but he gave her a big blue sucker anyway, which I am quite positive was her favorite part of the whole experience.
Even Graham sat on Santa's lap without crying, but by golly he sure was checking him out. Although for some reason, I did not get a picture of either one of them smiling, they were happy and I, well, I was standing there with my mouth wide open in disbelief. Yet I too, was very very happy!
