Winter Wonderland 2008

A few weeks ago I took the kids to visit "Father Christmas", as he is known here. When one pays Santa a visit here, you visit him in his "grotto". Many places require you to book a time slot far ahead and of course pay $30 for the pleasure of sitting on Santa's knee.
We don't roll like that, so I took them to a Father Christmas that was only $10 at a shopping center. When we entered the grotto, which was inside a huge Christmas tree, Kate suddenly got very, very scared. It was very shiny and kind rave-tastic in this particular grotto, and I think she may have been overwhelmed with it all. She was hysterical and wouldn't go near Father Christmas. Michael didn't seem to mind all the flashing lights, loud music, or the man with the big long fake beard.
Until I handed him off. Then he seemed to mind quite a bit.




Ever since that day, Kate has been telling us that she needs to tell Santa "sorry" that she cried so much when she last saw him. So we took her back for one more shot at the Winter Wonderland festival in Hyde Park. Every year, there is a German Christmas market in Hyde Park with rides, gluh-wein, beer, brats and of course, the Big Man himself. We took the kids last year and Kate had a blast. This past weekend was actually quite warm and pleasant, so we headed out on Saturday. The minute we walked in, Kate started getting herself worked up about seeing Santa again. She kept asking in a panicky voice, "Where is he? Where is Santa?", like she thought he might jump out from behind a tree and scare her. She wanted to practice with every single Santa statue we saw, but would ask before she ventured near him, "Is that Santa real or pretend?". I guess the wooden face and chipped paint in the beard didn't clue her in.


When we showed her his grotto, she said she changed her mind and she'd just send him a letter instead. Like the stellar parents that we are, we bribed her with the promise of a ride later on. So we stood in line, and she was able to see with her very own eyes that Santa did not roar, bite or otherwise harm the children.



It's true! Santa isn't a dangerous carnivore who eats little children!

When we got there, she was completely fine and just said "Hi Santa", like it was no big deal. Santa told her to keep her room nice and tidy, so she has been a tidy-up monster ever since! Danny and I are trying to figure out how we'll be able to keep that part up after Christmas is over. She says, "I have to keep my room nice and tidy so that Santa can put lots presents ALL OVER IT!".



We held up our end of the bargain by letting her pick out a ride to go on. She chose the toboggan slide, and we paid $12 for the privilege of her riding down the fake mountain that doesn't even look like a mountain. (She and Danny are in the 2nd lane).


She really wanted to ride this little roller coaster, but after Danny saw how it was put together, he refused to let her. The entire thing was just standing on these little wooden blocks. Totally safe, I'm certain.