Oh, Santa Man

Okay, first of many blogs I owe you. We took our annual trip to Macy's Santaland. It's a tradition we started when K was a baby and have kept it going. They used to change the display and have it reflect a different story, but they decided three years ago to just continue with the same show. (My guess is they no longer wanted to fund it, but realized it makes decent money and there are suckers like us who will come every year because it becomes a tradition ...)

Anyhoo, so this was K's fifth trip and he pretty much knew what to expect. So, I was really excited to see how O would react. (K's first year ... he fell asleep in his stroller as we walked through the display, but we got a fantastic picture of him smiling on Santa's lap (and at 8 months old ... that is not an easy feat.) O was getting a little drowsy walking through the display (it is dark ... and the luxury of a stroller just begs for a nap!) Then, as we rounded the corner before Santa ... K's excitement made sure everyone was awake.

Fortunately, the line moved quickly (D attributes this to the fact that he thinks they had two Santas set up. I wasn't paying attention when we walked in, but the fact that there were two photo stations at the end ... well, he might be right.) K immediately knew what to do and just made himself comfortable on Santa's lap. We braced ourselves as D handed O over to the man with the white beard. I think we both held our breathe. O gave us a look that clearly said, "What in the hell are you people doing?" But then K put on some magical charm and D and I cheered from the sidelines and we got a megawatt smile.

K then continued to chat up the old man for a few minutes. I couldn't hear everything they said, but when Santa asked what his favorite part of Christmas was, my heart melted when he responded that he'd get to see his cousins who were flying in from Pennsylvania.

Of course, when it came time to pick our overpriced picture ... we went with the one with O's first face ... it's just more memorable! And yes, we pay for the overpriced picture, because now we have five fantastic pictures that display the passing of time. (Of course, Santa looks a little different every year, but we're more interested in watching how our little men change over time.) I asked D if he thought the boys would humor us when they are sixteen and twelve and still get their pictures taken. His response ... they'd better (yeah, he's more sentimental than he wants to admit.)

We ended the trip with a stop at Mrs. Clauses' Bakery where D got the world's biggest coconut macaroon, I chose a fantastic giant sugar cookie and K selected a giant rice krispie bar with frosting. Yummy treats for all.

The best part of the day, however, was when we were driving back home. We asked K what he asked Santa for (because we couldn't hear him when it came to that question.) and his response: "You know, Santa's breathe smelled like barbecue." D and I laughed so hard. The kid is a pure genius - and I know he's training his little bro in his ways.