A Visit to Santa

Oh, my wittle Hansie and your squinty eyed smile!

Since Santa arrived in NYC on Thanksgiving to be in the parade, and we then saw him at Radio City Music Hall, we had to plan a visit to see him at Macy's.  In previous years we've gone on a weekday morning to avoid the 1-2 hour wait, but now that Freddie's in school things are different.  We decided our only opportunity to see him during the week would be Black Friday, so we took a deep breath and headed downtown.  Getting through the crowds and up to the 8th floor was tricky, but we were rewarded with a short line to see Santa.

The boys enjoyed spending some time in "Santaland" looking at the decorations. Hans still really, really loves watching the trains.  Freddie said he was a little nervous about seeing Santa and after hearing Hans rattle off several items he wanted to ask Santa for asked if it was ok to ask for more than one present.

When the elves finally brought our family to the little alcove where Santa was sitting the boys watched a little boy, much bigger and older than them, sit on the floor in front of Santa with a scowl on his face.  The boys seemed confused but didn't comment or ask questions.

After some pictures Santa asked the boys what gifts they were hoping to find on Christmas morning.  Freddie asked only for a blue skateboard and Hans asked for a skateboard and a ninja turtle.  Santa promised there would be surprises that would make them happy on Christmas morning.

When we were leaving the boys seemed to be on to the fact that there were several little alcoves (with santas inside), even though the elves did their best to distract them and keep them moving towards the door.  Freddie asked a few days ago it this would be the "real" Santa and I said I wasn't sure.  I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end.  Sigh.  I am sure there will be more piecing together of small details now that he's in school and getting input from several sources.  I did ask Freddie afterwards if it was Santa or a helper and he said "Santa" so we'll go with it for now.  I suppose I'll know when we'll need to talk about it but for now I'm happy to have a bit longer to believe.

Impromptu family photo

Visiting Santa at Macy's Santaland

In our house Macy's = Santa.  There's no concept of shoes or the cellar or dressing rooms.  Macy's is where Santa stops after arriving at the Thanksgiving Day Parade and making a short stop at Radio City Music Hall.

We went on a rainy Friday morning and got there not long after opening, right around 9am.  There was a little bit of a line, longer than we expected, but nothing crazy.  Ir was just enough waiting for us to spend some time in Santaland looking at the displays.

Freddie remembered a lot from last year.  That makes me happy.  I am fairly certain Hans will remember the trains next year.

One of Santa's elves leading us to Santa

When it was out turn to see Santa his elves made sure to quickly brief Santa so he could call them in by name.  Before he noticed the boys waiting in the doorway he asked the elves if Freddie and Hans were going to stop by, and then there they were walking up to his chair.  Magical!

The boys settled in to Santa's lap and listened to his recollection of seeing their names on the "good list" and he told them how proud he is of their hard work to be good boys.  Being on the good list stuck with Freddie, as he's mentioned it several times since seeing Santa.

Freddie asked for a remote control submarine and Hans asked for a train.  The elves need to get cracking and figure that out.  I know Freddie saw that submarine in one of the 100+ catalogs that has come into the house over the last few weeks.  And we have trains and tracks for days, but Santa is all about saying "yes" so another train it will be for Hans.

Waiting for the puppet show

After saying thank you to Santa and picking up our pictures, we went to the Macy's Puppet Theater and saw "Yes, Virginia: The Musical."  This was out first time seeing the seasonal puppet show.

I explained to Freddie the story of Virgina and clarified during the show that "The Sun" was the name of the newspaper, so I think he followed the story pretty well.  I thought Hans was just enjoying the puppets but after the show he told me "The girl was sad," so he picked up more than I realized.

We got to see Mrs. Claus before leaving, which was a treat, and added a new dimension of wonder to Christmas.  We haven't talked about Mrs. Claus very much, but she's got a place in our Christmas story now.

I love our Santaland tradition.

Visiting Santa at Macy's Santaland 2011

After last year, I worked hard to prepare Freddie for what it would be like to see Santa.  I showed him his picture with Santa when he was a little guy.  I don't think he could see the tears in his eyes in that photo, thank goodness.

Santa arrived at Macy's on Friday and we decided to get there to see him early in the season to avoid the crowds.  No wait at all this year, but we still took time to look at the decorations as we made our way to see Santa.

We explained Santa would have him sit on his lap to talk to him and would most likely ask what gift he'd like on Christmas morning.  Each time we'd talk Freddie would insist he wanted boots.  "Teeny tiny boots for Hans!" he'd say.

When we finally made it to the room where Santa was waiting Freddie creeped up and watched the little girl ahead of us sit with Santa.  He was wide eyed and seemed a bit timid.  He was star struck I'd say.

But he greeted Santa with a big smile and "Hello, I'm Freddie" and let Santa scoop him up into his lap.  He didn't cry, and asked Santa for Hans' boots.  Santa assured Freddie he would see what he could do about getting some teeny, tiny boots for Hans. 

There were smiles and a picture and then a high five to say goodbye.  When we made our way out of Santaland Freddie declared that he was sad.  He explained, with tears on his cheeks, he hadn't told Santa he wanted a toolbox.  Luckily, Santa will be visiting boys and girls in New Orleans during our visit this week and we can talk to him again and let him know about that tool box.  And I have a feeling he'll probably bring up Hans needing teeny, tiny boots again.

Visiting Santa

Freddie and Ian visited Santa at the mall. Last year Ian would not go near Santa. This year he was perfectly fine sitting with him and I think it was because he was highly entertained by Freddie wailing over on Santa's other knee.

The photographer was able to get Freddie to stop crying just for a bit but then when he looked up at Santa he just lost it again. No love for Santa this year.