Seeing Santa

Last night we did one of those crazy parent-at-Christmas-time things. We waited, in the cold, for over and hour so that Payton could see Santa. It started out harmless enough. I read about the Bonita Christmas Festival where Santa would be along with snow, tree lighting and cider. Being the Christmas lover that I am, I thought that it would be fun to take the girls to see Santa and play in the snow. So, we spent 3 days talking it up to Payton, what would she ask for, what would she say to him. I had NO idea that it would be one of the coldest evenings in Florida or that every child from Key West to Tallahassee would be there in line. Upon our arrival we assessed that the line was insane and that we would not be participating in such craziness. Thinking we could outsmart a two year old, we held her up, pointed to Santa and told her that she'd seen him. Then we moved on to explore the festival. We ate hot dogs, drank cold cider, experienced the "snow" and started planning our departure. That was about when sweet little Payton said to her daddy, "I wanna see Santa." He looked at me, his mother, and me again. I suggested we jump in the car and head over to the warm and toasty Santa who hangs out at Bass Pro Shop, but Jason, being the good daddy that he is, headed to the back of the line. And we waited. And waited. For well over an hour. It was probably 50 something degrees, and well after dark, so it seemed bitterly cold to me. But Payton never complained, never fussed, just hung out right with us like an angel. When we got close enough Jason put her up on his shoulders and at that moment it was all worth the wait. I looked up and she was waving frantically at Santa shouting "I'm coming Santa, I love you!" It was to cutest thing, made for the movies. And if I had charged my camera battery, or Jackie had charged hers, I'd be happy to post a photo, but we didn't. I was able to get a couple photos as I would turn the camera off and on, so here's what I've got.

After all the waiting, and then the rush to get us through and the next kid on his lap, I really don't even know if she got to tell him what she wanted. But I do know that we practically had to pry her off his lap. And the rest of the night she was glowing, hugging and kissing and of course sleeping with her Miss Piggy doll that Santa's helpers gave to her. This morning when she came into our room, she was still carrying Miss Piggy along with Kitty. We are still trying to convince her that it's MISS Piggy instead of MR Piggy, but who cares, she's in love.