visit Santa. check.

Sometimes I worry that my kids are getting jipped. I tend to be a little lazy when it comes to doing cool things with my kids. Cool things usually seem like more hassle than they are worth. I start to feel guilty if I think about it too much, and noone likes guilt. I really needed to get to the mall to visit Santa. Molly had never visited with him before, and it had been a few years for the girls. Generally we get lucky, and he comes to us (our dear friend Paul), we see him at K-mart, he comes to their pre-school. Not this year.

The kids got out early on Friday to start the holiday break. I picked them up from school and we raced over to the mall so we could catch Santa before his lunch break. Noone in line. Noone. He was just sitting there on his huge, velvet chair waiting for us. I wasn't sure if I should take my video camera or my photo camera. I decided on the latter, but missed capturing a few details because I was too busy watching and being a part of them. Molly was beside herself. Waving at him. Staring. I had kindof trained the kids before we walked in side. Reminding them of what they REALLY wanted for Christmas, the treasures I already had tucked away in the trunk of Dave's car. :) They were really cute with him. He was gentle and jolly, just like he should be. He kept wiping the girls static-y hair out of their faces. Alex seemed a little timid. I think that was because there were some other kids in line behind us by that time. Embarrassed a little maybe. I love him so much. You can tell by his hands messing with his pants that he isn't totally comfortable. Santa told him to make sure he got to bed early this year. A few minutes later when we were eating some pretzels at the food court, he told me he was pretty sure that was the real Santa, not a helper. "Otherwise, how would he have known I was up late last year?" Really good question, Alex. :)