Santa Claus

Today while we were in Grapevine for the train ride, we took the opportunity to see Santa. He wasn't the best Santa I'd ever seen and certainly not the cheapest, BUT I had reinforcements, there was no line, and we were there. All these things made it, in my mind the perfect time to let Meredith visit Mr. Claus and share her list for him (which depending upon the day, includes a doll house, a blue car, a train, and a rocket - a few of which were hints that Mommy dropped as ideas, others we are not sure where they came from - why a BLUE car?) We went slowly around the corner with Papa by our side to where Meredith could see Santa, and as we walked up to the front, she proudly said "I sit on Santa's lap!" and she even told the lady that was helping Santa that she was going to ask for a doll house. But as we got to Santa himself, her legs wrapped around me tighter and tighter and tighter. She had no plans of letting go. They tried so hard to get her to not cry, but I convinced them it was fine to just let her do her thing and get the picture. Here are a few that Neal took from the sidelines to give you an idea of this traumatic experience for Meredith! Of course we have a nice big one of her crying hysterically on his lap (it looks remarkably like last years!) that Meredith has loved to look at it throughout the day and tell about her sitting on his lap and crying.

Even though I was losing feeling around my middle from her legs wrapped so tightly, the tears hdn't started yet, so I was hopeful....

Now I am working to pry her legs from around me. Santa nicely offered to do a family picture, but I knew that would just mean that I had to be in it with her crying, so that seemed worse!

And the tears officially start and we work to try to get a picture as quickly as possible! Success, well, kind of.