another check off the holiday list

this past saturday, we set out for a fun adventure...

it was time for the annual visit to see santa claus! last year, we braved the mall and spent about a half hour waiting with a two month old who was quite ambivalent about santa. this year, with greater variables of emotional response possible (and disappointed that the mall santa last year was a 30 year old guy with a fake beard and stuffed pillow belly) i sought out a different santa experience. one of the local specialty toy stores advertised that they were having a santa come in and to "bring your own camera!" we payed $10 for a santa picture last year, so this was a welcome change for us. so off we went to meet santa, after davis took a nice long nap, had eaten a good lunch and was in a genuinely good mood. 

he didn't really even pay attention to santa at first...

but was much more entertained by the light-up sparkle wand that the "elf" was using to have kids look at their parents' cameras. so we sat him on santa's lap and took away the wand, giving santa a cute little reindeer that we thought he might like....

ummm, no. (by the way, i LOVE santa's facial expression here. he's cutting his eyes over at the "elf" like, "really? another one of these squirmy toddlers?"

so we gave the wand back. SMILES! :)

from everyone except santa. okay, santa. i get it. you've been doing this for a couple of hours and it's getting close to the end of your shift. but c'mon, a little smile? that'd be nice...but we made due. obligatory santa picture taken with no waiting and no traumatic emotional scarring. we're good. 

from there, we decided to explore the toy store. davis hasn't been here since he was old enough to truly enjoy it, and he was a huge fan!

he enjoyed the train table and all of the trains.

and justin jumped in on the fun. 

we even found a cute conductor's hat that stayed on all of 2 seconds (but long enough for me to snap a picture.)

then he found some plastic planes and cars and the cutest street playmat i've ever seen. i could totally see him having one of these in a few months when he really gets into trucks and cars and roads.

with the purple airplane and matching blue car in hand, we headed back up to the front of the store to check out. and by that point, santa was done and had left this perfectly good chair empty and waiting for one more portrait attempt. so here we are--cutie pie in a sweater vest with Christmas-y themed background? check.