VISITING SANTA

Growing up, my parents kept a photo album solely for our visits to see Santa. For each of my siblings and myself included, we're all missing from the pictures when we're 2 years old. This is a special time because it's when you first start to understand the idea of Christmas and the idea of Santa Claus. It makes things fun as a parent. At the same time, it's the perfect time to be extremely freaked out by being left alone on Santa's lap. So we crossed our fingers and took Liam to see Santa.As I waited in line, Liam slept in the car. We had to make sure we woke him up to give himself enough time to shake off the crankiness of waking up and warm up to the idea of seeing Santa.First entering Santa's workshop, Liam was bright eyed and full of wonderment.Santa's workshop takes place at The Livery in Danville. I wrote about it last year, but we like taking him here because it's free and they allow you to take your own pictures with your own camera. I also liked how they had this "warm up" setup to take a family photo and get the kids ready and used to taking pictures. [ Note: Liam's monster face rain boots. ]Liam: "Olaf looks weird Daddy".He didn't actually say this, but I'm sure it's what he was thinking.As we got closer to Santa, this is how the conversation went:Jenna and I: "Are you ready to see Santa?"Liam: "Yeah"Jenna and I: "Are you ready to sit on his lap and take a picture with Santa?"Liam: "Yeah"Jenna and I: "Are you going to tell Santa what you want for Christmas?"Liam: "Yeah"Jenna and I: "What are you going to tell Santa you want for Christmas?"Liam: "Candy"Jenna and I: "Okay, it's your turn to see Santa... Hi Santa!"Liam: "Nooooooooooooooo!"Jenna had to show Liam that Santa is an okay guy. Liam needed a minute to process the situation.Liam warming up a bit before Jenna slips out of the picture...Don't make eye contact...Don't make eye contact...Wait, Santa's going to give me candy if I smile at the camera? "Cheeeeeese"Well worth it.Never ever grow up!- FATKID