A First

There are lots of things that I did growing up that my boys do. There are lots of things that they don't do; mainly play with dolls and dress up like princesses. But they are BOYS and I am a GIRL so obviously there are differences. I never wanted to play in the dirt. That's pretty much a highlight for them.

So as the Christmas season drew near, my mother kindly encouraged me to take the boys to see Santa. We have never done this before so it didn't really dawn on me to do it this year. Well, we tried once when Tyson was a baby but the Santa at the mall was not dressed like "Santa." He has green plain knickers on, a riffled cream shirt and green suspenders. Not the man-in-the-red-suit. Plus the picture taking area was decorated horribly AND you had to pay to get the pictures TAKEN. All that added up to no picture.

Since then taking a picture with the jolly man just hasn't been a high priority.

Until this year.

So.....we waited till the last possible minute and loaded up the boys. Bass Pro Shop was our destination and along with being just an ultra cool store, it also has boats! and guns! and toys! and waterfalls! and fish! and everything else that makes little boys squirm out of your hands and loose their minds.

We arrived at 11:15 am and headed inside (along with a million other red and green clad children and their worn-out parents). As soon as we approached Santa's Wonderland I saw "the line." Lord have mercy.

A very polite elf gave us a green pass with 1 pm printed on it and informed us that 1 pm was our picture time.

Holy moly! 1 pm?! It's 11:15 am.
But wait!
We could linger around the totally cool store OR leave and come back at the appointed time.

So to Chick-fil-A we wandered and indulged in chicken goodness.
Then we still had to kill 45 minutes.
Thank goodness for DVD players and husbands that can install them in minivans.
Thankyouverymychhoney!

I will say that Bass Pro had their act together. Once arriving for the second time, we were ushered to the front of the line-ish (thanks to our handy green pass) and waited with wonder for Santa.

He was a very nice Santa indeed and listened to boys' every whim.

And then I received this little gem:

And all the world was right again. :)