Santa

On Friday morning, I decided that I would take the boys to get their annual Santa picture. I emailed my 2nd graders teacher and told her I would be picking him up early. Now before you judge me for taking him out of school early for a Santa pic, have you seen the lines for these things?

In the parking lot of the mall, I noticed there seemed to be an abnormal amount of traffic. But strangely, I did not have any problem finding a parking spot. Now inside the mall, I was so excited - taking him out early was the perfect idea - no line - yeah! We head to the queue, but it was closed off. I was so confused - it was 1:30, Santa's break was not until 3:00, then I started looking around - something was not right. Then I realized all the stores were closed and the electricity was off all over the mall - power outage (it lasted almost 3 hours - think of all the money they lost!). I was so frustrated, after all my planning and a wasted early release from school - the picture was not going to happen. After consoling my 3 year old, who was upset because he could not give Santa his wish list - we went home. We ended up having a great afternoon; the boys had popcorn and watched a Christmas movie while I made caramel corn for Christmas gifts for some friends.

Monday, the little guys and I picked up their brother from school (not early this time). After he changed his clothes and had a Sonic snack, we headed to the mall. As I was entering the mall, I ran into a friend whose kids had just had their Santa pics taken. She informed me that the line was extremely long. Fabulous - but we went in anyway. To my wonderful surprise the boys were very well behaved, with only a few minor incidences. In just under two hours, our mission was accomplished!