A Santa-filled weekend

This past weekend we visited Santa, twice! Seems like the big guy is everywhere during Christmastime. The result both times was pretty much the same...Tyler climbed right up into his lap and Caroline screamed her head off! I had a feeling that this would be the outcome...this makes 2 years where Caroline has not been super happy to see Santa. But, I feel like it is a rite of passage to have a screaming Santa picture, so I know these will be treasured memories!

Bass Pro Shops - this one is my favorite!
This Santa is just so good and Tyler's cheesy smile is the best next to her screaming!
Though I despise the creepy reindeer...

Breakfast with Santa at the Botanic Gardens
You can't really tell, but Tyler is wearing his "nice" shirt while Caroline's says "naughty".

On Saturday we went to Breakfast with Santa at the Botanic Gardens. This event always sells out and I booked it weeks ago. (I have to say upfront that this event was CROWDED and it was hard keeping up with our busy kiddos. Our patience was tested more than a few times, especially when the kids weren't as well behaved as we had hoped.) This year it had a Frozen theme, so Elsa, Anna and Olaf were also there. We did the early seating, so we stood in the long line to get a seat for breakfast. We took the opportunity to meet the Frozen characters first, which was a good decision since there was not time for everyone to see them. While we ate, there were some Nutcracker ballet performances and also a Frozen sing-along. After breakfast, we headed to see Santa. The line was a mile long so Russ stood in line while I did crafts with the kids. After about an hour of me chasing the kids around, we finally got to see Santa. Tyler asked for a new train...Caroline just screamed. :)

Caroline was super excited to see Olaf and Elsa while in
line, but wouldn't go near them once it was our turn!

In order for Caroline to be in the pics, I had to be, too!

Sunday after church we went to Bass Pro Shops to see Santa and participate in some of their free Christmas activities. There was a line, but it moved really quickly. Russ took the kids to do some of the fun activities like watching the race cars and driving the train while I waited. Santa went just the same as before...Tyler again asked for a train and Caroline screamed bloody murder. She was fine once we picked her up and they both loved the candy cane afterwards, too.