Hello Santa!

My mom, Alyssa and I did our marathon holiday shopping trip today, complete with visit to Santa. Considering that Alyssa was crying before we even walked into Santa's "village" at the mall, the visit didn't go so hot. We did get one (expensive) picture to bring home as proof that we did visit him this year, but after looking at how surly Santa looked in all the pictures, I don't really blame Alyssa for not wanting to hang out with him. I'll have to go check past pictures, but I think he may have been the same Santa who two years ago wouldn't give a little girl enough time on his lap to tell him what she wanted for Christmas, so she stood off to the side whispering softly "Polly Pocket, please, Santa" after her turn was up, which totally broke my heart. Advice to those of you in town ~ avoid the Oakview Santa. Thought I would share the photo anyway . . . she wasn't actually sitting on Santa's lap, just my lap in front of Santa (you may notice my hands/arms making a cameo appearance), but we did get the two of them together, at least! (excuse the crappy quality of my "picture of a picture", please!)

On the upside, with the exception of our $5 family "gag gifts", my Christmas shopping is FINISHED!