Visit with Santa

Dec 19th, 2011

We drove to go see Santa Claus at the Bass Pro Shop. Now, I realize this outdoor/fishing/hunting/camping/boating store does not sound like a normal place to get a picture with Santa, but this is our third year in a row going. Not many things in life are free, but these are FREE pictures. You never have to wait long (we went on a Monday morning and had zero wait time - brilliant!) because even if there's a line they give you an assigned time card to come back so the most we ever waited was probably 20 min last year. They let you take your own pictures if you want (which turned out better anyway). And this Santa, well he's pretty cool. He had a whole conversation with Lailey about Jesus and Christmas after we noticed his "Keep Christ in Christmas" pin and large cross. Altogether a cool experience. Afterwards we walked around the store having fun checking everything out. 

The life-sized stuffed golden retriever that Lailey loved

 The next picture looks all warm and fuzzy, but it took a little bribing to achieve. I spotted these fur hats in a bin and thought it would be cute if Lailey wore it. Uh, no, she wasn't having it. No amount of convincing her about it's cuteness factor was going to work. So Daddy pulled out the big guns...literally.

 So, how do you get the kid to where the hat for the picture? Bribe her with a pop gun of course!

She only got to pop it a couple of times, but it was successful!

Sweet!

What came next? A conversation something like this:
Davey: "Ooh, look she's having so much fun! (whispers) Maybe we should get her one."
Sarah: "No dear, a pop gun is NOT an appropriate toy for a two-year-old."