santa's village...

is a FREE event put on by our little city outside by the library. we drive by the village all the time and the kids have been begging to go and check it out. it is only open on weekend nights, so one friday night while mark was working late i decided it would be the perfect opportunity to take the kids. i had built up the evening by telling the kids all about how each of the little houses had fun things to do inside. they were so excited!! well, i would love to say that it was a blissful experience and totally got us in the "holiday spirit," but it was quite the opposite. :) there were TONS of people, no parking, long lines, and 2 little ones whining about all of the above. our trip to santa's village was about 30 minutes total. a few of those minutes were pleasant and i did manage to get a few pictures...

first we went to the "bank." the kids got an ATM card, put it in a machine, and a dollar bill came out. they then turned the dollar in for a treat.
they loved it!! we were off to a good start. :)

then it was off to the dr. suess house...
olivia was not too sure about the "thing one" and "thing two" but she decided the candy canes they were giving out was worth the picture and hello.

after that it was pretty much downhill. we walked around trying to find another house with a line shorter than 20 minutes. nothing. the line to meet santa- 2 hours!!! to see mrs. claus and get a cookie- 45 minutes!!! are you kidding me?!? i did get a one more picture before i carried jack out kicking and screaming and olivia in tears too!!

and so that was our santa's village experience. i think next year we will just go and walk around during the week and skip the people and lines, just go and snap a few pictures. maybe i could even think ahead and have the kids wear some festive clothes. :)