413 Visiting Santa

Monday after we gathered Katie up from school we headed up to Wolfchase to visit Santa. They had been looking forward to it for a while, and Katie had her list ready to go. She had made a list for Connor, but she forgot to bring it with her. We got lucky, and there was absolutely no one waiting to see Santa. We waltzed right on over and the kids hopped into his lap. Katie started right in on her list. I need to scan it, but it included..
Bendaroos
Dolphin Pillow Pet
American Girl clothes
Franky Stein doll
Zhu Zhu pets
And then she just sat there until I prompted her to help Connor tell Santa what he would like.Connor started with the all encompassing request of "TOYS!" but he narrowed it down to Thomas after a little help. I don't care what he was asking for ... the interaction between Connor and Santa was adorable!This is my very favorite pic! HOW CUTE IS THIS?!The only problem I had was that they require a minimum purchase in order to take you own pictures. A MINIMUM purchase is $23 for 4 wallets and 2 3x5s. I wouldn't care so much if I was paying for a quality picture, but what I got was barely worth the paper it was printed on. This was the best of three... and that isn't saying a lot since Connor looked drugged in one of them. Why on Earth would half the picture be of the background? And why are they shoved off to the left of the picture? And I know it would be asking for a Christmas miracle to have both kids smiling, but how hard would it have been for the girl to suggest we pull Connor's shirt over that cute, tubby belly? Its not as though anyone else was waiting to take our place on Santa's lap. They do this all day. You would think they would have gotten a little better at it than this.
The Santa WAS wonderful. The kids WERE happy. So I guess it is all okay, but it irks me to pay for sub-par work in order to take my own pictures. Even my phone took a better picture.We had to cruise the mall. The kids made a beeline for the ride-ons. Too bad we didn't have any quarters.A short sojourn in the ladies room of Macy's. I just think Connor is too cute here.We stopped for a little dinner before we left. Connor was being feisty, but my camera seemed to amuse him for a while...or maybe it was his subject that was so amusing.We did get the kids some new pajamas at The Disney Store (buy one, get one). I am hoping that one day Katie will learn how to take a picture with Connor without choking him.