First Visit of 2009 with Santa

I took the kids to the mall yesterday, and decided to give it a try.

Yep, I talked it up as much as a could, even promising lollipops as a reward.

We were first in line, and Santa was 15 minutes late, but Ella and Aidan bravely entered his "wonderland", holding my hands as if their little lives depended on it!

As it turns out, we acutally got a pretty cute picture, with me included. They were both perfectly happy as long as I was also on his throne!

And then I dared to stand up and place Ella on Santa's lap. Oh, the horror - I am such a terrible mother to torture my daughter like that!

The screams were loud, and the tears were immediate and plentiful from poor little Ella. Aidan, on the other hand, just sort of zoned out for a moment and looked bored.

Little do they know that we have several more Santa visits in store for them before the Holidays are over!