Santa Visit 2011

'Tis the season! We took Drew for his first visit to Santa, and we decided to live on the wild side and take Evan too.  His history of a desperate fear of mascots includes Santa... last year we couldn't enter the mall from the side where Santa sits, and forget shopping at a store within sight range of his throne.  But Evan mustered all his courage and agreed that he would "help his little brother" because he's so little.  Aww.  We went on a random weeknight, hoping the lines wouldn't be bad, and we were rewarded with only a 20 minute wait.  (We laughed at the other family who said the line was too long and they'd come back Saturday... because THAT's sure to be a shorter line the last weekend before Christmas - ha!)  Anyway, Evan was ready... until he saw Santa. Then he changed his tune to "no way!"  But the waiting in line did have it's advantage, as by the end of the wait, Evan was ready to see Santa, no problem. 

While we were waiting, we asked Evan to practice what he wanted to say to Santa, and his first comment wasn't what he (Evan) wanted, but what he'd tell Santa that Drew wanted.  Even in school, when Evan wrote a letter to Santa, he included Drew's "wishes" too.  What a fantastic big brother!  We're constantly impressed with his desire to look out for Drew, help him, and love absolutely everything about having Drew in our family. 

When it was our turn, Evan walked right up to Santa without hesitation, and launched into his story.  "I want a Chugger and Drew wants a baby with a pacifier..."  After a short chat, and Santa complimenting him on looking out for his little brother, Evan climbed right up on Santa's lap for some photos and even gave him a hug goodbye.  Santa told him to be sure and sleep on Christmas Eve so he could visit (Evan said he'd make sure mommy and daddy were sleeping too), and as we walked away, Evan rushed back to ask Santa what kind of cookies he'd like us to leave out (then told him we'd leave him Santa cookies). 

The visit was a total success!  When we came home, Evan couldn't stop talking about Santa.  He put on his winter boots (just like Santa), and had us all sit on his lap and repeat the entire encounter, nearly word for word.  Christmas is thrilling through a 3 year old's eyes, and it can't come soon enough!