Right Down Santa Claus Lane...

My family has the tradition of going to visit the amazing Santa Claus at Northpark Mall in Dallas every year. My nieces and nephews have been raised to believe that he is the one and only Santa, all of the other guys dressed in red at the other malls are just his helpers. Last year we were able to get all of the cousins together for our annual visit. We were planning on doing the same again this year, but due to time constraints, and Milo's impending arrival, we came to the conclusion that a joint visit was not going to happen this year. Seeing that I could not deprive our Santa lover his time with the jolly old man, I decided to swallow my stubborn pride and take him to one of Santa's local helpers. I got him all dressed in his dapper little tie and headed to the mall right after it opened. Now in Dallas we know that it is going to be an all day waiting affair, so we arrive with a strategy. This time around, I was less than prepared to walk into the mall and see a line of toddlers and their mom's waiting for the big man to show. I should have known.

After waiting for over 45 minutes with a hungry, squirmy Augie, we were the next in line when he decided enough was enough. Our poor little guy had been patient long enough, he wanted nothing more than to escape underneath the velvet rope and hitch a ride on the circling train. But I said 'no'. Apparently that is the worst thing that I could have said as a monumental meltdown quickly ensued. Of course being the stubborn youngest child that I am, we were not going to back out of that line now. So I took my screaming toddler up to the somewhat small Santa impersonator to get his photo made. They kindly asked me to sit next to them in hopes that it would calm the tantrum, but to no avail. So with no negotiations, I threw Augie up on his lap and ducked beneath the camera for a couple of solo shots. Then in all of my stealth I whisked him away before anyone knew what just hit them.

Of course I'm a little disappointed that our photos do not show the true enthusiasm for Santa that Augie has right now, nor will we be winning any awards for the most lovable Santa photos of the year. But at least we got a photo to add to our collection, and it's an entertaining way to remember our 'almost' terrible twos.

Call me a Santa snob, but I think this guy looks more like the head elf than the big man himself.