Santa!

When I was little I remembered getting to see Santa at the mall in the time leading up to Christmas.  We only ever saw him once.  I don't know if there are more opportunities to see Santa nowadays or if I was just sheltered, but Savannah got to see Santa about three times this year!

The first time was when we went to Rock City after Thanksgiving at my grandfather's.  I didn't get a picture of that one because Savannah was doing her trademarked "Crazy eyes" in the official pic and they didn't allow personal photography.  There was no line for this Santa so Savannah was able to tell him what she wanted (Barbies, lots of Barbies) and she even went back to him when we were done to ask him where all the elves were.

The next time we got to see Santa was at a work event.

If you're wondering about the blue on her face, she got her face painted right before seeing Santa.

But the big event was when we went to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops.  You know you live in the South when...  But really, it was a great experience.  There was a pretty long line, but we got some popcorn to make the wait more bearable (well played Bass Pro Shops).  I really can't complain though because they gave us a free picture with Santa AND they let us take pictures too.  There was a really nice couple in line behind us with their six month old so we chatted for a while.  Disaster almost struck when Savannah decided to climb up on their stroller so she could see better.  That was totally embarrassing.  We finally made it to the front of the line and it was time for Santa!  Savannah hopped right up in his lap like it was no big deal.  She then reiterated to him that all she wanted for Christmas was lots and lots of Barbies.  

Since I know most of you only care about the pictures here they are:

Iphone entertainment while waiting:

With the big man himself:

They even had a free carousel that we rode after seeing Santa:

Family Camping Trip

Back in November we took a weekend camping trip with Eric's brother and his oldest son.

My mom and stepdad have a travel trailer that they let use sometimes so this was not roughing it in the least.  We built a fire and made s'mores for the first time with Savannah.

See how much shorter she is than her cousin?  He is a year younger than her.  I think this is just a funny combination of her being short for her age and him being tall for his age.  The cousins had lots of fun playing together that night before they finally went to bed.

It was just cold enough for the fire to be comfortable, but not too cold that we froze.

The next morning we got up and went to feed the ducks that were nearby.  Healthy breakfast of Cap'n Crunch.  That's probably animal abuse.  Don't report me.

Where's Bennett?