Santa 2013

Last week we headed to the mall for a visit with Santa. As we approached Santa, Ryan tensed up and wasn't so sure about the ol' man in the red suit.  However once Santa started talking to him he decided it wouldn't be a horrible idea to take a seat on his lap and have a little chat. 

On the other hand, Grayson wasn't a huge fan. I am pretty sure Santa wasn't a huge fan either (of the screaming). I think this is where he was telling me to come and get him but I couldn't hear him so I was just snapping some pics. Oh I am sure he just loves that. lol. 

 After I grabbed Grayson, Ryan stayed and had a nice little talk with santa. He told him what he wanted for Christmas - a helicopter with a hook on it and then santa told him to be good :) It was pretty adorable!

And here is the 'professional' shot....maybe next year they will both be happy :)

We have gone to this Santa every year (2010, 2011, 2012) ...and he doesn't appear to have actually aged!!!

Pictures with Santa

So proud that it is only December 4th and we have already gone to visit Santa!

Ryan wasn't a huge fan of him last year so I didn't have high hopes. That and the fact that it typically takes him about five minutes to warm up to anyone. I hyped Santa up all morning long and when we were on the way to the mall he was telling me how he was going to tell santa he wanted a choo choo train.

We sat Grayson down first and he was happy as a clam. Little G was even giving out smiles! He just looked so comfy up there will big ol Santa. I had Ryan in my arms and when he got up close he latched on to me hard...the photographer was like...when you set him down just get out of the way as fast as possible. So I did. And he screamed.

 And then Elmo came out.

And happiness was restored!

Grayson was smiling a lot but apparently not at the same time. For half the pics his shirt was covering his face...and then when Elmo came out he couldn't stop staring...you know that stare with big ol eyes and no blinking...that's that wide eyed face you see above! lol!

Heck Ryan started chatting up a storm and didn't really want to leave...perhaps next year he won't take so long to warm up to him!

Santa 2011

We finally made it! I have been seeing friends post pictures of their kids with Santa for the past couple weeks and couldn't wait to take Ryan. Last year we saw Santa at North Park and at Neiman's downtown. The Santa at Neiman's is great and there is no line, but there is something special about the Santa at North Park that I just love!

He's pretty darn popular - which obvious by the always existing line of children waiting to see him. Everyone loves him because he has a reputation for authenticity. The CBS Evening News once called him "one of the country's premier Santas," and years ago The Wall Street Journal labeled him the world's Santa expert. Now he even has a blog! Check it out here. 

Since I wanted to take him back to the Santa at North Park I knew I was going to need some help. Luckily my mom was in town AND Grandma was available too! Yia Yia headed to the mall at 8:30 to get a ticket for us to stand in line. We were #19 - wowzers! And that's standing in line 30 minutes before it even opens! A lot of people get their ticket early and then come back in the afternoon because then you basically just get put right in the front of the line. Since we were working around Ryan's nap time I wanted to go before noon. Santa came out at 11:15 and I think we saw him around 11:45ish.  But between myself, YiaYia and Grandma we had Ryan covered! He played in the toy store, walked around and ate some snacks - not a bad morning if you ask me!

I wondered how Ryan would react this year. I wasn't sure if he would cry - which seems to be the normal reaction for kiddos his age - but I wasn't quite sure what he would do. I was excited to find out. And this is what we got:

As I mentioned before, it was around 11:45 when we finally got to sit on his lap - which is basically nap time. He started tugging on his hair...which made it impossible to keep it nice and neat. He wasn't really scared of Santa but he also wasn't jumping for joy. I think we probably could have gotten a smile out of him if it hadn't been so close to naptime. Oh well! I love my little bug!

It's hard to believe that this was only a year ago...