We had to dress up and be cute and Christmasy. I thought they looked adorable!
I mean, look at my beautiful kids! I'm so blessed to have them!
We got there a little late and were so surprised to see a fairly small crowd. Usually we get there and there is barely a hanger left in the coat closet and today there were TONS! Gave the kids the opportunity to play the games a lot and not have to stand in line long for anything.
In fact, if there was a line, it was like one kid long and that's it. Much quieter - and nicer, if you ask me!
As you can see, the kids really enjoyed their time playing. :-)
There was even a guy making balloon animals, which is always a hit! Madie and Noah got dogs and Livie got a snake. After this, Madie and Noah went into the hallway, so they could freely hit each other with the balloon animals and throw them in the air. It was then that they hatched a plan to find Santa. They wanted to be to the first ones to spot him, so they hid in the coat closet until he came out. When he did, they ran in and let us all know!
Santa and Mrs. Claus joined us and all the kids gathered to hear Mrs. Claus read "The Night Before Christmas". The kids are normally crowding Santa and Mrs. Claus, but with the smaller crowd, they all sat nicely and quietly. In fact, my friend Laura and I had to whisper while we talking so we wouldn't disturb anyone. It was amazing!!
Then came the best part - the PRESENTS!! Livie was up first in our family, since they go with the youngest first. She was sooooooo thrilled to be with Santa!
She got a Barbie salon with a Barbie and these outfits to go with her. The minute she got home, she played and played and played with it!
Noah was up next and he too was super-excited to see Santa!
Madie was too, even though she was up last in the whole crowd. That didn't stop her from being excited! Even though she's 10, she still LOVES Santa!
The 10-12 yr old crowd got a gift card, which she promptly spent at Cracker Barrell on a Webkinz artic seal that she's been eyeing. :-)
Noah got this HUGE remote-control car. It's awesome! Moves in every direction. Tater is terrified of it, so he didn't use it too long. But, it's really cool!
We all got our picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus. It was a great afternoon! We ended the evening by joining our friends, the Thiry family, for our annual lunch/dinner celebration at Cracker Barrell. We've done it nearly every year, with the exception of the one when Pete was in China, since we began going to these things 6 yrs ago. We look forward to it every year, almost as much as the party itself. It was a great day and has totally gotten us in the mood for Christmas!
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