Lunch on Saturday, Santa on Monday

The real story of this visit to Santa is the fiasco it almost was!  So, for the past couple of years, the adventure to Santa Claus has worked out so well.  This year, it seemed like there wasn't a good time.  We had to fit it in between basketball practices, futsal games, holiday parties and Tobin/Noah's basketball games.  I didn't have times for everything so I just had to guess.  I chose Saturday, December 10th at 8:30am.  For the last few years, breakfast has worked out extremely well.  So, as it closer to the time, we figured out that the girls had 10:00 b-ball practice and 2:30 futsal games.  It was really cutting time close.  We decided to go ahead and give it a try, but we had to change the time to right after practice and before the futsal game.
     As we were sitting at Panera we were having a fun time eating and laughing.  The moms were at one table and the girls were next to us.  We heard giggles coming from them and we were having a great time talking as well.  Since I felt responsible for this to go down well, I thought I would run to the mall to make sure that it was going to work out with Santa.
     As I walked into the mall, I saw a group of Irish dancers dancing with a big crowd.  Good I thought.  They will be a draw away from Santa.  And I was so excited as rode the escalator down and couldn't see a line for Santa.  I saw about 10 families in line but that was it.  In my heart, I was jumping up and down, but I continued to where the line began.  Once I got there I noticed a sign hanging on the sign that said, "Line closed" and a schedule of Santa's breaks!  I arrived at 12:05 and they had already cut off the line for his 1:00 break!! This really wasn't going to work with what we had going on!! Darn the luck.  So, I called the other moms-told them it wasn't going to work and to begin working on another time!  By the time I arrived back at Panera, they had decided on Montgomery Mall after school on Monday.
So, Monday after school it was!  Since my work was so close to the mall, I got there early to wait in line (there was none) so that we could walk right up.  Even though it was the 18th, there was no line.  It was crazy.  The girls were really excited and you could tell it.  They all talked to Santa individually and then we got a group picture.  It was so much fun.