There is no secret that the day the cousins and we take our Santa pictures, might be my second favorite night of the year — right behind Christmas Eve.
This year it was a mad rush to get to Santa, because we knew he left at 8:30, and we were still getting ready at home at 8:00. Good thing the people at the Santa station love us, and always are so nice to us. I have been told in years past that our group of hooligans are their favorite group each year.
That being said, I think the pics turned out cute.
Thank goodness for an early Christmas gift from Grandma of darling matching PJs!
Perfect for a Santa pic!
Brett went with the pastel theme which I also thought was darling.
You’ve got to love the baby and Santa pics!
And the Sissies and Santa.
And the cousin girls.
But the toddler boy whispering into Santa’s ear, just might be the winner.
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Then the chaos began.
Might I add….this started when all of the kids were younger, and it really was chaotic with all of them. But now it has evolved into, “it is a tradition for every rule to fly out the window, and we get to be crazy without our moms laying down the toughest of laws.”
We were running out the door so quickly, and I was driving my mom’s car, which meant I left a stroller behind.
THANK GOODNESS for these little cars that cruise the mall for forgetful moms like me!
Then it was off to do a little shoe shopping, where my kids found black nylons that transformed them into crazy faces.
After shoes, we headed over to the playground where four other cousins joined us.
Calin, Skilly, Trey and Doey left crank-calling at home to be with us on the famous” close-down-the-mall” night.
The kids played and played.
Pips loved her freedom.
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Our time at the playground wasn’t as long as usual, because we got to the mall so late. But about an hour after the playground, many anxious boys were begging to go on to our next adventure.
So off we all went.
You know the drill.
The humiliating drill.
After the two above pictures (which all occurred in less than five minutes) I called it a night.
Good thing — because about 30 seconds later, the Security Guard on the people mover showed up.
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We slowly walked out, as the kids retold stories from the night.
They thought they were all so cool!
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And 10:45pm, just as we were going to all pack in our cars, we passed by Cheesecake Factory.
I jokingly said, “Hey….we would be stupid to take all of these hungry kids home to just mess up the kitchen.”
Then Brett said, “I agree….table for 17 please!”
After an hour of eating, three kids asleep, Pippi eating like a trash disposal, and the cousins laughing an plotting for nest year….we really called it a night!
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Until next year!
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