Santa and Trains

We had heard about Northpark Mall having what are called, "The Trains At Northpark" which is a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald house. We thought this would be a good year to check it out with our little train fanatic. As I was looking at the site, I saw some Santa info and thought this would be a good chance to fit that visit in as well.

Story time with Santa. I have never heard of this before and it sounded like a lot of fun, so we headed to the mall early to listen to Santa tell a couple of stories. Lorelei was completely in love with this, Makin was ready to leave. So, he stayed with me in back and she sat up front by herself. The part they loved more than the stories was when he would tell them about the North Pole or not to leave the fire place going so he doesn't burn his boots, and also reminding them about the cookies of course. :) Made for a fun Santa experience we have never had. (In the picture she is looking at me after he talked about the cookies. Like...are you paying attention, Mom?)

We wondered around a bit waiting for our turn (this place gives out tickets/numbers) and also waiting as Brad was going to leave work for a bit to meet us there and see Makin's first Santa visit and the trains.

Lorelei walked right up and sat on Santa's lap and talked about her list. (Which, until this day, was very general and she did not have one set thing she wanted. Now suddenly there is one thing and only one thing she wants and everything else is "for next year." Lets just say, next year the list better be made earlier and with a sharpie, no amendments allowed.)

Makin held back. I actually thought he would have no hesitation this year as he happily talked about Santa and was totally pumped to see him, sit on his lap, and tell him what he wanted. After a minute of us coaxing and watching his sister, he let us put him on his lap and he did not freak out. Santa asked him what he wanted and he quietly said trains, so Santa did have ask Big Sis what he said. He warmed up and answered some questions and did great. It helps when Santa is AMAZING.

They both got a picture of Santa that he gave them that has a note on it and love having it in their room.

Then we headed to the trains! I'm pretty sure if it hadn't been nap time, Makin would have stayed for hours. We stayed 45 minutes or so, which is impressive if you see that this is NOT that big a room. :) He was completely entranced and followed the trains back and forth. They just made him speechless and in awe. He went through the groups of people following trains down their tracks and did not worry for a minute if one of us was not following him (thankfully it was not that crowded and I was VERY glad we had one adult per child). He favored a certain blue train that he liked watching the most.

Lorelei loved it. She could not spend the same amount of time there as her brother, but definitely enjoyed the experience. :)

Trying to catch a reaction to seeing the trains...close as I got but the smiles were huge. :)

Lorelei's favorite part of the day was seeing Santa. Makin's favorite part of the day was the trains. :)

Guess it was a good combo! :)