First Day of Advent 2011

I buy Advent calendars every year, for the kids. This year, my friend Leslie, said she was making one. I asked her what she was doing. She directed me here. I got super excited! This is totally something I could do. I am not very creative, but I can copy others' ideas well :) I think this is the perfect type of calendar because it creates intentional memories. It's all about things we are doing together (well most days are). I have decided I am going to blog about each day so that I can keep the memories for the kids--we'll see if I can do it. Just because I say something doesn't make it true :) 

The kids have been super excited to open day one. So, this morning, they found out they were going to meet Santa! I got them dressed for school, loaded them in the car, and we drove off. Rori noticed immediately that we were going the wrong way--she's as smart as her mommy ;). I said, we're not going to school, we're going to see Santa now! They were super excited. I told them not to tell their teachers we went to see Santa, because apparently even though I am a grown adult, I'm still scared of getting in trouble from teachers. Liam pointed out, that was a lie. Crap. Love it when my kids call me out. 

I brought my point and shoot camera and it wasn't focusing, so forgive the pictures. I finally looked at the lens and it's slightly sticky with a fingerprint. Hmmmm... not sure who did that....Brendan. Anyway, I didn't have my lens cleaner on me so, oh well. I'm just keepin' it real. 

So, my super-friend, Leslie, also told us about this place to see Santa. (Seriously, she's super-mom, she has 4 boys--set of 5 year old twins, 3 year old, and 6 month old, she runs half marathons, bakes, made the advent calendar, and oh yeah, we got her Christmas card yesterday and she actually wrote a personal message on it. I haven't even ordered ours yet--and nobody is getting a personal message!) Anyway, so this place had Santa as well as other fun activities for kids and they give you a picture of the kids with Santa and it's all free! 

We got there right before Santa and he walked around and talked to the kids. He was the most realistic Santa I've seen in a while. The kids weren't scared, which is a change from last year. Liam told Santa he wants Rescue Bots, Rori wasn't ready to commit to something (I think she's worried she couldn't change her mind later) and Brendan was more interested in the reindeer. We stayed for about an hour and a half--the kids shot guns, bows and arrows (this was at a hunting store), raced cars, and played in the dune buggies, or whatever they're called--I am not a hunter. That's gross.

Sticky culprit?

what? There's Santa? Who cares! Look at this super cool Dune Buggy!

I didn't crop this because of sticky blur and I wanted to show the cool decorations

Anyway, it was a super time, and a great start to the Advent season! I just hope I don't get detention tomorrow...