Breakfast With Santa

The big boys were at a debate tournament all day today. Alex was actually competing and Anthony was getting some service hours being a judge. The rest of us went to the gym that we belong to, Lifetime Fitness, for their "Breakfast With Santa" activities.

Their setup wasn't nearly as nice as the one at the mall, and the lighting was horrible. They had Santa sitting in this cardboard thing that was supposed to look like a sleigh. Eric had to stand in order to be seen behind the front part of the "sleigh". Eric and Natalie had the most fake-looking smiles ever for the "official" photo. I figured that I already got a good picture of Eric with Santa, so I didn't mind that the photos today weren't good. I still like this picture because it shows Eric hugging Santa.

We went to see Santa as soon as we got there, then we ate. Eric ate a lot--two pancakes, half of a link sausage, and almost two mini-muffins. Natalie ate ate two pancakes, two sausage links, and two chocolate-covered strawberries and a marshmallow. She was so busy cutting her pancake that she didn't even want to look up for this photo.

After Eric was done eating, he wanted to go home. He wasn't interested in any of the crafts, although he watched me make a reindeer out of a candy cane (pipe cleaners for the antlers and scarf and glued-on eyes and nose). They had these bunches of balloons for decorations, so he did play with one of the bunches. He would pull on them until they bounced down to him and then up again. He also rummaging through the goodie bags and eating the candy. Luckily, he patiently waited for his sister to get through all the craft activities, because she pretty much did all of them.

Natalie went to every craft station, except the one where they were making snowflakes out of gumdrops. I thought that was way too messy and sticky and I was glad she didn't want to do that one. She made a wreath ornament out of a pipe cleaner and beads. She mixed together reindeer food. She decorated a sugar cookie with red and green M&Ms. She made the candy cane reindeer that I described earlier, and she made another ornament by gluing rhinestones onto a piece of tree-shaped paper. She enjoyed herself so much!

Besides the Breakfast With Santa, Natalie had piano lessons today and Patrick and I went to see "9 to 5" musical at the Majestic Theatre. I actually had time to take a nap this afternoon! Hopefully the schedule will relax a bit more in the next week or so. Patrick and I need the break!