Search for Santa

So, there's quite a bit more Christmas in this country than we thought there would be. In fact, the malls have Christmas music piped in and there are decorations hanging from the rafters.  There are angels, snowflakes, Santas, trees, snowmen, and lights throughout the city.  Okay, it's not really that great, but the malls do have Christmas music and decorations up.  We have been on the search to find Santa in the city.  I found something of interest at a local mall.  A kids party with Santa!  It cost about $8 per kid, but surely it would be worth it . . . Santa would be there!  Well, Michael put it best when he compared it to a 4th grade talent show.  Let me tell you a bit about it.  We showed up, paid our money, and signed our kids in.  They asked us if we brought a present for Santa to give our kids.  Oops!  Strike one.  We walk in and they give us boxed snacks for the kids.  Not unusual.  I think half of the economy is stimulated through the purchasing of boxed food.  It really wasn't so bad. 

Except for this.  A flowered hot dog???

We go on in and the kids get balloon animals.  That's pretty cool.  

We continue on and sit down.  Now the fun begins.

Two girls come out in flapper outfits and do a little dance.  Not bad. 

Then comes the trio of girls all in pink playing the violins. At least they were playing Christmas carols.

Next up, kids playing drums?  Too loud, too long, too much, not even Christmas songs.  Strike two. 

Then comes the fashion show.  Strike three and we're out of there. 

Yep, very much like a 4th grade talent show.  Lucky for us, we saw Santa on the way in!  I guess he was in the "green room" waiting to come out.  Truett knocked on the door and waited for Santa to say hi, part excited and part petrified.  He wasn't quite sure what to do or what to think.  He did end up saying, "hi," but Paisley stayed away.  As we walked away, I told Truett that Santa spoke Indonesian.  That was NOT okay!

But, no worries, we found another chance to find Santa!  A couple of days later, there was "The Story of Christmas Journey" at a mall here in town.  It looked promising, even advertising a family cake decorating contest and photos with Santa.  Hooray!  We planned to make an afternoon of it.  First we'd find Santa and fill ourselves with holiday cheer.  Then, we were going to the movies.  We woke the kids up early from their naps, put on the Christmas clothes, and headed to the mall with high hopes.  This one was a bit better than the last attempt to find Santa.  There were actually some pretty good high school choirs singing Christmas songs in English.  I enjoyed that!  There were a few activities for the kids to do.  First they painted a minion.  Truett painted the yellow part and Paisley painted the blue. 

 In the middle of painting, however, Paisley spotted "Olaf" (the name of every snowman she sees) across the room.  Truett was pretty sure it was Frosty, a song that we sing over and over and over and over and over, you get the idea.  We went over to say hi and saw Santa.  Tru was a bit shy, but warmed up.  Paisley would have nothing to do with them!  I think she may have eventually given Frosty a high-five, but she RAN from Santa (who I am pretty sure was the exact same Santa from a few days before at the hotel).  

Truett was quite enthralled with Frosty and followed him around the whole room.  You could tell that the little wheels in his mind were spinning, he was deep in thought and copying Frosty's every move.  After making their way around the room, Truett comes up to me with the most serious expression and says, "I think that Frosty is just a mom or a dad or a grown up in a costume.  I see a zip on the back and think there's just someone in there."  He's quite the observer!

So, all in all, not the best results for our search for Santa.