Visit With Santa

All three of my trees are officially up and decorated. David still needs to take care of the outside lights but we keep those pretty simple. I have a couple odds and end decorations to place in the house and hang a wreath on the door. I still need to tackle Christmas cookies but I'll tackle that when I get home from Baltimore.

Wednesday morning, Madeline and I are getting on a plane to visit my sister in the Baltimore area. While at Marysia's we plan to do some serious Christmas shopping. Last year we began the "Baltimore Christmas Blitz" and shopped all day and wrapped all evening. I had gotten so much done there and even wrapped and shipped gifts to their final destination. Last year we passed by Santa in the malls in Baltimore because we wanted to have David with us on Madeline's first visit to Santa. (We ended up standing in long lines last year when we visited Santa when we came home) This year, we wanted to visit Santa before leaving so that David could once again be part of it. Also, I won't feel guilty if we visit Santa a second time while in a mall near my sister.

One definite advantage to visiting Santa so early is that there wasn't anyone in line waiting (of course a home Bills game didn't hurt either). We stepped right up without a wait.....note to self, go early again next year. Today, Madeline was pretty apprehensive about getting on Santa's lap. I thought we would have a screamer on our hands but she pulled it together and did pretty good. She did end up turning all shy and talked to Santa in barely more than a whisper. After the visit with Santa, we rode on the mall's carousel which is next to where Santa sits. Every time we rode past Santa, Madeline yelled, "Hi Santa!" Also, when we were walking through the mall later we noticed that Santa was walking on the other side of the mall - he was obviously heading for a milk and cookies break. Madeline kept yelling, "Hi Santa!" Santa stopped, turned around and waved to Madeline....the look on her face was priceless!