of christmas lights & santa claus

so last night we went to the zoo christmas lights. *what were we thinking?!* first of all, the saturday before christmas--can you say busy beyond reason? second of all, snowy-rain mixture coming down lightly. third of all, we were going to be there after bed time for the girls. i could go on & on to reinforce our parenting stupidity last night, but you get it: poor choice of nights to visit the zoo lights.

however! adeline was to the moon about it all day, saying "going to the zoo, see christmas lights!" now repeat that 1,000 times & that's what wes & i heard yesterday from lunch until we arrived at the zoo. (it was pretty cute, actually.)

you can probably see the exuberance emitting from her like an electrical charge.

as for amelia, well, let's just say she wasn't so excited to be there. she cried on the drive there. she cried walking in. she cried while everyone else oohed & ahhed over the lights. she cried when we tried to give her some warm hot chocolate.

i think this picture sums up her version of exuberance.
THEN. we spotted the carousel. addy started to shout: REINDEER MOMMY, REINDEER! SANTA'S HERE?! i was looking all around the lights trying to find the santa claus display & then realized she was talking about the carousel horses going up & down. so we walk up to check out the rules for the size, expecting that amelia wouldn't be tall enough to ride. well, apparently they don't have rules about the size as long as parents are in the right spots & holding onto their baby for dear life. then wes & i were like 'oh, it's probably too expensive adeline, sorry' & we all spotted the $1 a ride sign on the same time & were like OKAY OKAY OKAY, we'll ride.

it's also important to note that this entire time of going to & being at the zoo lights we were experiencing some sort of series of unfortunate events. nothing serious, just dropping blankies & other important snugly things in the puddles, taking 15 minutes to get out of the car getting everyone bundled up, addy losing a shoe on a curb & then stepping into a puddle, addy spilling hot chocolate all over her face & coat & 2nd pair of gloves (then i gave up my scarf to her...cold me, but it saved addy's grumpy-b/c-i'm-cold-&-wet-behavior), addy picking up snow & then freezing her 1st pair of gloves...etc, etc, etc.

so we get in what we thought was a short line & it turned to be a very long line in which we were one of the only people who weren't holding spots for others waiting somewhere else or people just plain cutting in line the entire time. i was ready to lose it on some folks at one point...but how can you call out a grandma holding the hand of her 3 year old granddaughter?

anyway, the carousel ride finally happened & adeline was so amazingly excited. she wasn't just smiling, she was laughing & giddy & bubbly. amelia was gripping the carousel horse pole for dear life & wes was then holding onto her for dear life (wes gets a bit motion sick at times). no worries, no one spewed their hot cocoa. in fact, it warmed my mama heart to see the girls enjoying themselves so much (amelia warmed up to it after the ride started, but she never loosened her grip).

how is it that there's never a picture of me with the girls? ah well.

then the ride ended & reality hit adeline. she had to get *off* the horse?! let's just say we buckled them both in quickly & sprinted out to the car. i swear wes, who was pushing the double stroller with both girls in it, nearly ran several folks over (including kids) & he had this very intense look on his face. the goal was get to the car & it didn't matter who he hurt on the way there. it didn't help that adeline was screaming bloody murder b/c her heart was broken after getting off the horse. as wes said, one crying on the way in, the other crying on the way out. so, at least only one is crying at any given time, eh?

a shot of the lights & the frozen pond.

yet another shot for you to enjoy *smile*

as wes said, wow am i glad that's over with. it was fun, yes, but too much work. next time, we'll just go during the day, head for the carousel, ride it for an hour, then look at a few lights on the way home at dusk.

***

so let's talk santa claus.

wes & i were talking this morning (yes, we're missing church. but that's b/c of a misunderstanding during the 6 a.m. hour between wes & i. a grunt from me does not necessarily mean 'no, we're not going to church today'...it may mean 'you don't have to wake up during the 6 a.m. hour to get to church at 9 a.m.' & then amelia needs her nap, so that rules out the 2nd service, etc. i know, good excuses. jesus still loves us, i'm sure of it) ANYWAY.

i have this problem with dudes who dress up like santa claus. it started when i was very little & a male relative dressed up like santa & visited our house on christmas eve...he would arrive & i would shriek in terror b/c WHY IS MY GRANDPA DRESSED UP LIKE SANTA, WHO'S NOT REAL?! then i would run & hide under the table until he & my grandma left. there's many reasons that i won't divulge here why i was freaked out by this...but that's when my fear of people dressed up in costumes started. i think. maybe my parents can verify this (there was my 2nd birthday when my soon-to-be aunt dressed up like a clown & i nearly didn't come out of the house to join in my own party b/c i was so scared).

the other day adeline came home from school & told me the *entire* story of santa claus. from school. i guess i shouldn't expect her to come home with the 'real' story of christmas, since she goes to a public school. i decided then it was time to get on the 'why christmas is christmas story' & we have a few good children's book explaining this. so now adeline knows both stories pretty good & walks around singing 'happy birthday to jesus'. cute, but grating after #33. but i asked adeline if she wanted to go visit santa, putting aside my own feelings of fear & allowing her to get excited about santa, with her knowing that santa is not real, but it *is* a fun story to make-believe. adeline said {drumroll, please!} no, santa scare me! (score one for the mama).

i don't want to pass on my fear of odd things, like costumed people who are imitating a child story, but...maybe there's something more to it. so wes & i were discussing this whole thing, the santa aversion of mine, which he is totally okay with. if our kids want to see santa, we won't stop them. if they don't want to, we are not going to force them. we want them to grow up knowing why we celebrate christmas & also enjoying the whole fantasy of santa. so far we're doing pretty good, i think. we came up with some ground rules for visiting santa, when that time comes.

• the santa must have a real beard.

just compare these two pictures:
http://www.clownscharacters.com/santa1.jpg
http://www.fotosearch.com/CSP042/k0421782/
am i the only one who thinks the 'fake' beard picture dude looks a bit creepy?

• whatever establishment is hosting this meet santa situation *must* do back ground checks on all workers. seriously, what better way for a pervert (or registered sex offender if they don't do background checks) to be near kids & establish a trust-relationship with kids? you may think this a bit over the top, but i've been in contact with waaayy to many sex offender & sexual abuse/assault victims to be naive about this. santa must have a background check. must.

• if our kid(s) starts to cry, the visit is over immediately.

call me the grinch if you want, but...that's just not true. i love christmas & i have loved it without the whole santa involvement for a long, long time. it's still christmas & very jolly without santa. & yes, we still do stockings in the morning. seriously, we are encouraging the whole santa story without telling them santa is real & also encouraging the knowledge & amazingness of the jesus-birth story & *reality*.

***
thoughts? comments? snide remarks?

time to mention that cable was installed yesterday. we have already recorded several dora shows, one curious george, one griswold's movie, & a few other random shows. i haven't watched tv more than usual (read: i haven't watched more than 5 minutes of tv since the installation) but wes & adeline are oh-so-very-excited about this cable. the next 3 months will be bliss for them. really, i'm guessing once the 3 months of cable are up (which is the time that we are somehow making money out of this deal...who knows, ask wes about it all) we will not be able to give it up. but then again, in 3 months, gardening planning & prep will be in full swing, as will be the girls playing outside most of the day. so it may be an easier give-up than i anticipate.