Santa Claus 2

      In our family, we bug and pester Santa many times. My kids have already had a chance to see Santa at the Primary Ward breakfast but that is never enough for us. We saw Santa once again at our traditional Bass Pro store. This time it was a little more pleasant but also a little more longer with the Santa line.

       We (Pappi, Grammy, Michael and Felicia's family and our family) thought it would be better to go to Bass Pro to see Santa in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day. We figured that the line wouldn't be so long since it is during working hours but were we ever wrong. This year was the longest line we had to stand in. Thank goodness, since there were so many of us, we had a system of swapping or taking shifts in line. One person would stand in line while the rest of us would go look around the store at the fish, fish, fish and more fish and also the other fun animal statues and products. We thankfully had snacks and water for the kids to eat and be distracted with. At Bass Pro they also have activities and a few toys to play with. This year their activity was Christmas coloring pages, which is Addison's favorite thing to do. They also had a jumbo checker set out for kids to play and Ethan had fun playing checkers with random kids. I didn't know Ethan knew how to play checkers so good. We have played a few times together and he didn't really win the other kids but I was pleased he at least knew the rules and could play the game with the other kids.
       Even though there was lots to do and see at this great big store, the kids toward the end got restless and whinny. Heck, Mommy was starting to get impatient and tired but thankfully when that started to show, Pappi (the one taking his shift in line) was texting us to get ready to see Santa.
 

   









     



       I was curious on how Addison would do with Santa this year. She is a lot older and understands the concept of Santa a lot better but every year she has cried on Santa's lap. I figured she would do okay this year but I have thought that every year. As you can see from the pictures, she actually did great on Santa's lap and she even told Santa what she wanted this year for Christmas. She didn't cry to after she got off Santa's lap. Addison cried because she had colored a picture for Santa while waiting to see him at Bass Pro and wanted to give it to him but forgot. She wanted to give him the picture right then but we told her Santa was busy with the other kids and taking pictures and we couldn't. She was starting to cry because she really wanted to give him this Santa picture she colored. Thank goodness, Mommy received inspiration and told her we would go home and mail him the picture and we could also write him a note of thanks for talking to her. She got really excited held the picture all the way home until we got the envelope, stamp and letter written. Even though it was a little stressful and overwhelming I was touched that Addison wanted to thank Santa with a picture. She is a good example to me that even Santa Clause needs to be thanked and appreciated.