Lydia Grace Barron and Molly Joy Barron

Sunday, November 27, 2011

We love this picture! This was our SECOND attempt to meet Santa on Sunday. First we ambitiously set out following church that morning. I had seen pictures of a really beautiful winter Santa scene at the Shops at Willow Bend mall (near our church) so we thought we may as well give it a try. I had the girls all dressed up, snacks-a-plenty on-hand, and I was feeling optimistic. We arrived and the line didn't look too bad... but then we waited. and we waited. and we waited. And the line had hardly moved. This spectacular winter scene was neat, but also meant that each visitor took FOREVER to move through it. Oliver suggested we quit while we were ahead and the girls were still reasonably rational about the long wait to see Santa. He was right, because at the rate we were going, it would've been more than an hour more, I'm sure, and things may have gotten ugly! So, we bailed. I underestimated my 3 year old, because I really didn't think she'd care whether we saw him or not. But oh no...she remembered that we talked about going to see Santa Claus and telling him she wants a dollhouse for Christmas! She didn't want to leave! So, we promised to take her later after her nap. When I woke her up early from her nap so we could go before they closed, the first thing she said was "go see Santa Claus!" We went to Stonebriar Centre just before they were scheduled to close, and it was much faster. We still had to wait about 4o minutes, but that's nothing when it comes to Santa lines! We coached Lydia about saying hi to Santa and asking him if she can have a dollhouse for Christmas. (She plays with a dollhouse at school and is always talking about it.) She did so well! She wasn't timid to go see him. She said "Hi Santa!" and then told him she would like a dollhouse. He said that he has lots of dollhouses. I asked her in advance if she would please smile for the camera and she agreed. But...once that camera was on her and a lot of strangers were staring at her, she sort of froze up. As for Molly....well, the picture speaks for itself! (and she was in SUCH a great mood while we waited in line! See below.)