Christmas, Part 1

We went to see Santa Claus yesterday, and Elsa was so excited. I have an advent calendar that my brother and I used when we were kids, where you transfer a little mouse from pocket to pocket as you advance through December. I kept telling her that when we got to "15," we were going to go see Santa. And every day when she would go to move the mouse, she would ask me if she could move it to "15." So the day finally came, and the whole family went to Phipps for our scheduled appointment (silly, I know, but I have decided that it is rather nice to have an appointment so that you are sure to not have to wait in an incredibly long line). We checked in, and then I helped Elsa fill out her list to give to Santa, complete with the two items she had been saying she was going to ask Santa for for weeks now: a Rudolph puppet (which she fell in love with when she and Jarrett went to the puppet show) and a hammer. She was very anxious for her turn, but then, as you will see in the clip below, was a little hesitant actually going up to him. But she warmed up pretty quickly... after the crazy camera guy was finished shaking Elmo around and making crazy noises. I don't know if you can hear Santa if you turn up the volume loud enough, but he is clearly a little quizzical over her desire for a hammer.

After Santa, we headed over to Lenox to ride the Pink Pig. Sadly, I left the camera in the car, so I have no photos from this year's ride (besides a couple on my phone that did not turn out well at all). But just Jarrett and Elsa rode this year, as they wanted me to try to sit Avie up on the seat next to me rather than just keep her in the Ergo, which hugs her close to my body and is clearly the safer option. And it is such a crazy ride -- watch out! But Elsa and Daddy had a good time.

We had dinner out at Ted's yesterday evening (Elsa's favorite -- "the buffalo restaurant"), and then went home in time to put out cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for his reindeer before putting the girls to bed. Because we were (supposed to be) headed out of town today (did not end up happening), we wanted to have our family Christmas this morning here at the house, so Elsa was very excited that Santa would be coming down our chimney last night. She had played this out over and over: "Santa is going to come down our chimney, into our fireplace, and then put presents in my stocking." She was certainly ready.

I was worried she was going to wake up and be so excited that we'd all have to get up and do Christmas in the middle of the night. But she actually slept until a little after 7:00 a.m., and walked straight through the living room and into our room without noticing a thing. It was like she had forgotten what was supposed to happen, which is so not like Elsa. But I played along. Jarrett was actually in the back room because he has not been sleeping well, so Elsa decided to go and "warm up with Daddy" (she likes to get under the covers with him in the morning to get warm), which meant she walked back through the living room and still did not notice anything. But that was fine. I was able to finish nursing Avie, and Jarrett was able to get prepared with the video camera. We all came out into the living room, and I asked Elsa if she noticed anything. She immediately looked at the coffee table, and looked absolutely stunned. She was amazed that only cookie crumbs, an empty glass, and the nub of the carrot remained. Santa had come to visit! It still took her awhile to realize that her beloved Rudolph puppet was in her stocking, but once she did she was super happy. And she could not part with Rudolph at all today -- he even joined her at Ms. Gabriela's (which Gabriela was thankfully okay with). The plastic animals were originally purchased for Elsa's stocking (from the $1 Target bins), but ended up not fitting, so they went into Aveline's instead.

We are hoping to get on the road maybe tomorrow to start our holiday travel extravaganza, with many more Christmas celebrations in store for us all, so we will have much to report, I am sure. In the meantime, merry Christmas to all of you!