Ho! Ho! Ho!... A Visit with Santa Claus

Yesterday, we finally found time to go visit Santa Claus at West Town Mall.  Santa had already dropped in to see the boys at school on Friday, but I wasn't sure if Fenn remembered to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.  So we thought we'd go again just to make sure Santa got the message.  I don't have a photo of the boys' encounter with Santa on Friday yet, but I heard it went pretty well.  At least Fenn didn't cry and wasn't terrified of Santa this time.  {If you want to see last year's Santa photo, click here.}  We were told Fenn wouldn't smile at first, but then they brought Boone into the room and he gave them a little bashful smile.  My guess is that it was similar to the smile he has in the first photo above.

We headed over to the mall around 5:00 p.m.  It was a little later than we had hoped, so we knew we were going to have a limited time to stand in line before having to possibly give up and try again another day.  Luckily, even though the line was long, it seemed to be moving somewhat quickly.  Here are a couple of photos taken while waiting in line.

To help pass the time, Dan pushed Fenn around the mall for a while.  And I stayed in line with Boone.  Boone was happy the whole time and was enjoying being entertained by the kids standing in line with us.  I think we made it up to the front of the line around 6:20 p.m. and we were getting in the car by 6:40.  Fenn did great and didn't seem scared of Santa at all.  He sat there very sweetly and even talked to him a little.  I think he said "bicycle" to him.... he doesn't quite know how to say "I want a bicycle."  Just like at school, he wouldn't really smile.  I think he was distracted by all the lights, people, and the camera flash.  Boone was his nomal, happy self.  No real reaction to Santa.  He just sat on his lap with his fingers in his mouth most of the time.  Santa commented about what a good baby he was.  When we were about to leave, Fenn gave Santa a high-five and even gave him a little hug.  All in all, our first experience standing in line to see Santa was a good one.  Here's another photo with Santa.

And here are a couple of photos of Boone from yesterday morning.  He was pushing up into the "all-fours" position and rocking back and forth.  I definitely think he'll be crawling soon.  He's really strong and very determined to become mobile.