Tenth Day of December

On the 10th day of December, we have a reservation to go to the North Pole to see Santa. It was this seasonal thing at an outdoors mall in Yonkers that we'd heard about and decided to give it a try. We like to do some sort of family Christmas thing each year, and have done the Rockettes and other various things in previous years. This sounded OK so we piled into the car on a cold and blustery December afternoon to go.

In the car the kids asked questions. What is it? What will it be like? Where are we going? Etc. We only had a vague sense ourselves so we gave vague answers. But it will be fun, we said. Hopefully.

We parked in a parking garage and walked over to where it was. The kids saw a LegoLand sign which I think they were more excited about. But we got the Christmas village, waited in line, went inside. Emily and I noticed how small the whole structure was and said to each other, well, this could be quick.

But it ended up being great. Most notably, it included a 3-D, Disney-type ride where we felt like we were on a magical sleigh traveling at high speeds through the sky on our way to the North Pole. Escorted by Shrek and Donkey, no less! So that was cool, fun for the kids and a reminder for us of our great Disneyworld trip at the beginning of the year.

Once there (it's possible we didn't actually travel to the North Pole, but it seemed like it!), we got to go in as a family to see Santa. He was sitting on a comfortable couch in a room packed with letters from kids and toys and books and things. He had kindly eyes and a great beard, and though I can't be sure it really might have been Santa. The kids sat down on either side of him, Kate on his lap and Jack next to him. Jack, maybe, didn't think it was really Santa, but was polite and respectful. When Santa asked what he wanted, he said an XBox, whew! Kate was shy, when Santa asked her what she wanted, she drew a blank, just sort of smiled in a daze. She believed. Santa said her present would be a surprise, which works well for us.

They smiled nicely for pictures, I shook Santa's hand and wished him a Merry Christmas, and we were whisked back to Yonkers. (After buying the pictures in the gift shop, naturally, that's how they get you!) Happy and full of good cheer, we had a nice dinner at a burger/comfort food place. Kate and I played Tic Tac Toe and did a crossword. We all filled up on food and drink. And then happily skipped over to LegoLand to spend too much not enough just the right amount of money.

We drove home, listening to Christmas music. Heard a James Taylor song, about which Kate asked, "Why is he singing like he's dying?" We laughed much of the way home, and went to bed with visions of sugar plums and Lego Santas in our heads. Nice night.