A rare occurrence

When my mom and sister were here, we went to HuHot (a Mongolian grill) which is attached to our local mall. Afterwards, we went to "walk off" a portion of our meal. Mom and Susan wanted to hit a place to get "Kansas goodies" for souvenirs. We headed to what I thought was the right direction. Instead, I sent us down the path of no return (for most parents, anyway)....the path to SANTA. THERE WAS NO LINE!!!!! NOT ONE KID THERE....

Once Scotty spotted him, there was no turning back...the boy was ALL ABOUT the jolly old elf. Hannah, true to form, was reluctant to see him. But Scotty just climbed up on his lap. I got Hannah to get closer, and "oh by gosh, by golly!" the Jolly Man got her to TALK to him...and then she sat on his lap long enough for a picture. How it happened was anyone's guess. But I wasn't about to say no to a picture. Because we don't have many of her (or Scotty) anywhere NEAR that fat man. I'll share:

This was her first year (2001) with Santa - he was SO cool - loved his real hair and beard, but didn't like the vest. She did okay, though you can see she was a bit teary-eyed. She was in tears for the entire time, and the photographer caught her between squalls. We also saw Santa at the tree lighting ceremony at Ft. Gillem, and there were more tears.

The following year (2002), we were in Virginia Beach, and I remember the dress she was wearing, but for the life of me, I can't find a picture of it. I know we took one...or maybe we didn't because she wouldn't cooperate. I can't seem to find one from 2003 either, but that's more likely because I was HUGELY pregnant (yeah, I know, I wasn't due till March, but STILL). Though I do recall TRYING to get her to sit on Santa's lap. We stood in line, we waited, and she was okay...but then she panicked and fell apart, so no picture.

This is 2004, the next year. Scotty is 9 months, Hannah's almost 4. Scotty's about to bail out of Santa's arms (nice Santa, though), and Hannah wouldn't get much closer than where she was for the photo. Notice the lovely face she is sporting.


For 2005, we were in Germany. No formal Santa picture, though he did show up for the Band's "holiday" party (quotations are there for emphasis on the stupidity of PC - if Santa was there, it was a CHRISTMAS party, right????). Again, Hannah's about 2 feet from the guy, refusing to get near his lap...and Scotty...well his face says it all.

We didn't even bother with last year. It wasn't worth the headache on my part. I SO wanted it, but I knew Hannah would fall apart and Scotty...well, I wasn't sure of him yet.

But here's THIS YEAR'S attempt!
Hannah had her hand buried in her sleeve, but she's SITTING ON THE OLD GUY'S LAP! And Scotty, well...his face says it all. He could have talked the guy's ear off...he talked for several minutes more until I told him we had to leave because there were other kids waiting, lol!