There is no Santa picture from 2009.  In 2010, Gillian was five months old and John was a little over 3 years old.  John was very excited to see Santa.  Gillian didn’t cry, but doesn’t look thrilled.   

 

2012 was also pretty much a disaster.  Gillian was awesome in line waiting for Santa, but then when it was time for a picture, she was not happy.  Check out my Visit With Santa post from 2012. 

 

Needless to say, I was not looking forward to visiting Santa in 2013.  I opted to do a Fast Pass (basically you pay online and get to skip the line), and totally avoided any pre-Santa jitters.  John is a pro and by the looks of the picture so is Gillian.  You can check out my post from that year Santa 2013.

 



This year, we waited until the last minute.  We have had quite a few busy weekends and sometimes, it is hard to get out on a school night (especially with 2nd grade homework).  But I decided to do it today.  I set up my Fast Pass (it is totally worth the extra $5).  I picked the kids up from school, and we headed right to the mall.  I parked outside the entrance by Santa and we went right there.  He was on his dinner break, so we went to the food court to get dinner.  As we were heading back to Santa we saw him come out of one of the back hallways.  John was so excited to see him walking thru the mall like us.  Santa saw us and waved and headed to his chair.  Santa had time to see two groups before it was our turn.  Gillian and John went right over to him said hello and started smiling for the camera. 

 

Later I asked them if they talked to Santa.  John said “I told him I want Legos.”  Gillian said “I want an Anna doll.”  On our car ride home, John started to question me about how Santa can visit all the houses in one night.  I simply said “He’s magic.”  John said “Magic can’t be the only answer, because you can’t use magic by people.  It can be dangerous.”  Apparently he has really thought this through.  I also explained to him about time zones and how that could help too.  But he responded with “But what if there are two continents in one time zone?  How does he get to all the people at the same time?  And don’t say magic.”  I said “You should ask Grandpa tomorrow.  He knows a lot about science and math, I bet he has figured out how Santa can do it.”  Sorry Dad, but clearly John doesn’t like my theories. 

 

As I tucked Gillian into bed, she was still smiling about meeting Santa tonight.  She told me “You know what?  Santa lives at the mall.”  I explained “No Santa doesn’t live at the mall.  He just visits.”  She said “Oh, that’s what I meant.  He visits there.  Because he knows people go there.”  She is much easier to reason with.