We let our friends T and D in on our favorite holiday "secret" this year -- visiting the REAL Santa Claus at his workshop in Manchester, CT. The kids excitedly made a dash for the building when we arrived, on an unusually mild afternoon.
The kids scrambled into Santa's sleigh and pretended to drive it.
First stop inside was at the Head Elf's office, where they were put onto Santa's list, along with what they want Santa to bring them most of all.
The kids posed for a snapshot by the fireplace. Since it was such a warm day, the fire was very small, otherwise poor Santa would have roasted inside that warm cabin!
Zoo Boy has some private time with Santa. They talked for quite awhile, "about secret stuff, " the Boy explained to me later. Then Santa gave him an apple (which I had already pre-coached him to accept graciously, even though he's not shy about making it known that he does NOT like apples). He eventually handed his apple off to me, but not until he was out of Santa's sight, because he didn't want to hurt his feelings.
J gets in his face-time with the bearded fella. He thought hard when Santa pressed him for something else he wanted him to bring (other than the Lego Agents set he asked for), but couldn't come up with anything else. So Santa said, "How about a few surprises?" Which he thought was a GREAT idea. He gobbled up his apple before we even left the workshop.D decided she'd rather not talk with Santa, but did accept an apple from him. Let's face it, it's pretty intimidating to come face-to-face with a living legend!
Then the kids visited with Mrs. Claus in her kitchen, where she fed them cookies and cocoa (and had coffee for the parents as well -- she thinks of everything, that Mrs. Claus). She did ask us one favor -- she said that Santa eats SO many cookies while on his rounds that often she needs to give him an alka-seltzer when he gets home, so she requested that if we leave him cookies, we only leave him a few. Apparently the jolly ol' dude has no self-control and will gobble up anything that is left out for him. So we promised that we would just leave him a couple of cookies rather than a whole batch.
We spent some time watching the elves making toys.
The Claus's Christmas tree. I actually couldn't fit the entire thing in the photo, despite the fact that I was practically in Santa's lap all the way across the room from it. It's just THAT big. You'll just have to trust me when I say that there were plenty of gifts underneath it. Apparently Mr and Mrs Claus were also very good this year, as they seem to have done just fine in the gift department!
We finally ended our visit, and the kids skipped happily off to the playground. "It's good that Santa has a playground," commented Zoo Boy. Yes, it sure is.
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