A few more Santa pics

Since the visit took place at the mall you know we weren't going to simply pop in for Santa and pop out. The mall at Christmas = our happy place. Especially on a day like today when it is so empty that it is like walking around our own private mall. Now there is an excellent late addition to my holiday wish list (Kelly's Christmas/Birthday List 2007; Number 152: Own Private Mall).

Here is the Santa set up this year ...

That sign to the right says "No use of personal cameras past this point". Right. What are they going to do - ban us from the mall? Do they have any idea how much money I spend there per month??

The theme this year was the movie "Fred Claus" so they had monitors playing previews/trailers all along the course of the line. Check him out watching whilst studying "The List" ..


They also had other random activities to keep the children entertained along the way while they wait for their turn with Mr. Claus (Santa - not Fred). We literally had to rush Jack thru these or Santa would have been waiting on us instead of vice versa.



This is the last little hallway you go through right before seeing Santa. I believe it's supposed to be like you are inside of a snowglobe - they have fake snow falling the whole time you are in there. When you leave you look like you look like the poster child for "Head & Shoulders" shampoo.



List in hand about to take his turn (right before the kicking and screaming commenced)



And taking a few pictures PS (Post Santa) ....
Tolerating me....


SO over it ...



We then walked around the mall a bit




Rode the elevator (See Santa down below!?)



And looked at every.single.toy in KayBee toystore. (I took no pictures of this. Shocking.)

Then my early and extended lunch was over so it was back to the grind for me. Well, for about 15 minutes until a co-worker asked me if I wanted to go out to lunch. I love the day before a vacation day :)

Best Santa visit EVER!

Oh no she dih'nt ...



Oh YES she did ...



And lest you think we are all greed and no grateful ..

Awwww - aren't we polite!?

I am SO going to be that mom who takes Jack to his first grade science fair with a project entitled "Reaction and Diffusion in Heterogeneous Atmospheric Chemistry" swearing that he did it all by himself.

So I think I've discovered the secret to the Santa visit. Go right when they open on the day before Thanksgiving. Most people are too busy getting ready for guests or hitting the road to mess with the jolly fat guy today. There was one family in front of us. It consisted of two beautiful little girls done up to the nines in matching dresses. Older sister was all about Santa. Younger sister - not so much. She refused to get within 10 feet of him. You could tell the mother would have pressed the issue has she been there solo. However, the dad was there too and when he saw the little girl screaming "NOOOOOO!" he immediately gave the mom a look and said "Maybe next year, hun" followed by a "move along" nod. Our wait was literally one minute. Thank God for that dad!

Jack was actually a big Santa fan this year. He was a bit hesitant at first. But once I carried him over to Santa's chair kicking and screaming (Oh yes I did. Our dad was working and unable to come along so I didn't have to deal with a "maybe next year, hun" and a "move along" nod. YEAH! And by "YEAH!" I mean "wish you could have been there sweetie!") he loved it. He immediately sat down and started reviewing his wants and needs. Here is Jack breaking down "The List" (You've seen the pictures - tell me that thing doesn't demand capital letters AND quotes) for SC ..



As we were leaving I asked Jack if he wanted to leave his list with Santa or take it with him. Santa looked right at me in a sarcastic Santa tone says "Oh I don't know Mommy - he might need to add to it!" and gives me an eyebrow raise with a "as-if-you could-possibly-add-any-more" look. Okay I do realize that list contained everything but the kitchen sink. Wait - no, it did contain a kitchen sink. Literally - a kitchen sink. Think we pushed it a bit too far by asking for the house in Key West with pictures from the MLS listing? NAH!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Welcome home daddy!

Daddy is returning home from a business trip this evening and Jack insisted on having a little something special set up to greet him upon his return home ...

The flowers were completly Jack's idea. We were at the grocery store walking by the flowers and I said "Look Jack - pretty flowers for mommy! Mommy loves flowers!". To which my little prince answered "NO. Flowers for DADDY. Wet's get flowers for Daddy, okay? Okay Mama? Okay! That's a good idea!". The boy carries on complete conversations by himself all the time. He then insisted on pink flowers. He actually specified "brand new ones". The florist came over and helped pick out the best stem. She had to hold up 2 different ones which Jack refused before finally approving her third choice. Such a picky one, this kid!

He also has been doing a VERY good job of keeping his Daddy's side of the bed warm ...


I tried to snap that picture before he woke up. As I was turning on the camera he was still totally out. I guess the sound of the camera turning on woke him. He opened his eyes, saw me and immediately said "CHEESE". You can kind of see his mouth forming the word behing that pacifier that you are pretending not to see because he really isn't supposed to be using one anymore. Thanks for that, by the way.

More Jersey shore recap still to come as well as a recap of Jack's VERY first airplane ride on his way to his very first trip to Key West! I am way behind. I'm thinking I might have to quit my job and commit myself to being Jack's full time biographer.

H-A-Double L-O-W-double E-N spells HALLOWEEN!

You knew you'd never look at Shellfish the same way again after seeing the Halloween 2005 lobster.

You slept with the lights on for weeks after seeing the Halloween 2006 shark.

But nothing has quite prepared you for .......

The Halloween 2007 Supermodel MONKEY!!!!!!!
Posing on a porch near you soon.

His head shot ...


If this had sound you'd hear that he was making a VERY realistic monkey noise for this shot...


Cheeky monkey ...


Jack: HEY! There is a banana in my pocket! ...

Jack: Can I take it out?
Mommy: It doesn't come out.
(5 minutes later)
Jack: HEY! A banana! Can I take it out?
Mommy: No remember, it's stuck in there.
(5 minutes later)
Jack: HEY!....
I'm taking scissors to that thing when we get home.

Jackie says "Talk to the paw!"


Happy Halloween!

Ain't no party like a Pumpkinville party ...

Today Jack, Aunt Sue and Mama went to ...



Located at the Leesburg Animal Park in Leesburg, VA. Why does Leesburg sound so familliar? Why because that is the location of my personal Mecca - the Leesburg Premium Outlets. Open 7 days a week. Shop early, shop often.

Jack and I kind of planned this trip on a whim and put in a very late notice call to Aunt Sue to see if she could join us. To our delight she said yes! Jack was so excied he nearly peed his pants. Actually he did pee his pants. Many times. Thank God for pull ups.

First we went to say hello to the animals. Or "He-woh" as Jack would say. Jack was a HA-UGE fan of the rooster. The rooster - not such a huge fan of Jack.



Invading a llama's privacy ...



Jack was all "How's the weather up there?" That Jack! Such a jokester.



I have no idea what the heck this thing is but someone standing next to us referred to it as "that cow from India" so that is what I am going with.
Jack introducing himself to India Cow ...


And petting India Cow ...


And feeding India Cow some hay ...



Really tho - I've never been a huge fan of livestock but isn't India Cow pretty?




Jack decided he was VERY good at feeding so he proceeded to feed a goat ...



And a sheep - (even tho the sheep seemed to be pretty good on food for the moment)...



Next it was time for the giant slides! First Jack and I went down together ...



Then Jack was like "All you toddlers who are independant, throw your hands up at me!" and went down on his own.




In keeping with his independant theme Jack took the bridge to the other side ..


and embarked on a little solo hayride ...


Such a clown, this kid!


Next the prince agreed to let Aunt Sue and I go on a hayride with him. Have you ever seen two more beautiful people on a hayride in your life? I think not.




Some of the hayride sights included a ghost ..


A spooky forest ...


Stuart Little ...


Sharks!



And a monkey ...



Jack: Look over THERE!


Aunt Sue: No, look over THERE!


Is it just me or do they appear to be scheming?


Snacktime!


Um, who invited the Olsen Twins?




Seriously could their facial expressions be any more alike?

I think Jack's favorite part of the entire day (next to Aunt Sue showing up!) was playing on the hollowed out spooky school bus ...




Jack says "I wish I was a little bit taller .. I wish I was a baller" (an incognito shout-out to my one skee-lo fan out there)

I literally dragged him away from that bus kicking and screaming.

The screaming subsided for a quick stop to conquer Mt. Pirate ...


Here we are staking our claim ..





And after that it was back to kicking and screaming all the way to the car.

A great big THANK YOU to Aunt Sue for joining us! And an even bigger thank you goes to Aunt Sue for tiring Jack out so much that he slept from 2:00 until about 5:30! Do you have any idea how much laundry can be done and Lifetime television watched during that amount of time? I do!