Storybook Land

Phew, it was tight for scheduling this year but we managed to get to Storybook Land to visit Santa. This year they opened the park during the week for the holiday season and the kids had a random half day of school yesterday that happened to coordinate with all our work schedules. We toughed the cold weather and made it work for another memorable experience. 

We got to the park before opening and it wasn't nearly as crowded going during the weekend. We did a few rides and then Mandy stood in line for Santa. 

They changed the schedule this year and Santa was not available before 5 pm when he appears in the chimney to welcome guests and light the park. 

We were the fourth family in line and still waited close to 40 minutes to see Santa. The wait is so long because he really takes his time with each kid/family. At least we were inside the house for the majority of the wait and we got to have a nice long chat with Mrs. Claus. 

She answered all of Kip's complicated questions with ease. Dan, Mandy and I were all worried because Kip is just getting too smart and this window of magic is closing for him. Fortunately, I think Santa and Mrs. Claus saved it for another year. They had an answer for everything and Kip had a big smile on his face talking to them.

Santa spent nearly 10 minutes with the kids telling them how proud he is of what good siblings they are to each other and how they work hard in school. You guys...is this the REAL Santa? The kids gave him pictures they drew and Santa commented on all the right things. Ivy was chatty too. She told Santa she wanted something that was of course not on her list and Kip talked with him about Legos.

They did great for their photo (did you see, Kip lost both front teeth! Gaaa I love it). After our visit we ran through the park under the magic of the lights. Kip and I had a blast on bubbles the roller coaster, we all got to ride the train, the kids tried the Tea Cups this time, and we danced to the light show.   

It was a great night. Memories to last a lifetime.