Charlie and Evie Meet Santa

Almost everything was cancelled during snow weekend, but not Santa!  Luckily, he has Rudolph and can make it through any kind of weather to come visit with the boys and girls of Dallas.  We went to the downtown Neiman's to visit him and although the tunnels were closed due to the cold (we were so sorry to miss those!), Santa was happily waiting inside.  We talked him up a lot on the way, and both kids decided that they were very excited to meet Santa.  Charlie wanted to tell him that he wanted "a bike with pedals [we once made the mistake of giving him a balance bike] and two big wheels and then those little wheels on the side [training wheels]."  Evie thought long and hard and decided that she would ask for "pouches and cookies."  She was a little nervous about sitting on Santa's lap, so I had an inkling that all may not go smoothly.

Charlie was not nervous in the least.  He happily hopped into Santa's lap and proceeded to ask for a "bike with pedals," which Santa found very funny--the idea that someone would have a bike without pedals!  Apparently Santa hasn't gotten in on the balance bike craze.  Charlie agreed that such a thing would be crazy.  He was very worried after, however, because he forgot to tell Santa about those little wheels on the side.  Luckily, we were able to get a letter in the mail to clear up any confusion!

 Although she was desperate to get in her request for pouches and cookies, Miss E just did not want to be in Santa's lap.  She was furious the whole time, so there were no happy pictures to be had.  Oh dear; hopefully poor Evie won't be on Santa's naughty list.

We played for a while in the toy area and then, as we were walking out, Evie really began regretting her behavior wanted to go see Santa again to ask for pouches and cookies.  Clint and I had a feeling that the second visit wasn't going to go much more smoothly, so we declined, based on the length of the line.  Miss E looked very relieved. :)

So far, Charlie is 3 for 1 with Santa and Evie is 1 for 2.  We only have one photo with no crier in it, so I am hoping that baby #3 hasn't quite gotten to the separation anxiety phase next year and we can slip in one more happy photo before he gets skittish!  (Although, I have to admit, I kind of love the crying ones. :)

Our Santa pictures from years past:

2010:

 2011:

 2012:

I put these photos up in the house, and Charlie and Evie get such a kick out of them.  They love to check and see who is crying in each picture and although Charlie seems a bit embarrassed by 2011, he likes to emphasize that he's only crying in one of the pictures.  Evie is quite thrilled with her crying pictures and wants to show them to everyone.  She thinks the photo of them with Santa this year is just wonderful and anytime anyone comes over, she goes and gets the photo and brings it over, saying, "yook! yook! Ebie crying!"  If you ask her why she cried, you get a typical Evie response: "I dunno."

Santa is going to have a full lap next year!