Santa Series ....

Yesterday evening Tom and I took the girls to the mall to see this guy:

It was the same guy that held them when they were 8 months old,

and looked like little dolls on his lap.

Ella and Zoe were beyond excited, and they learned a lot on this visit.

They learned Santa's favorite cookie (right now, anyways) is chocolate chip -- and so is Zoe's! Ella prefers gingerbread, which Santa likes too, and so does Mrs. Claus.

They learned Santa puts his finger to the side of his nose when he wants to go up or down a chimney, or through a door if the house doesn't have a chimney.

They forgot to ask where Santa's reindeer were while they were talking with him, but they did learn when he takes breaks he makes sure they have fresh water and a snack. Apparently they really like carrots and sugar cubes.

They also learned that Santa's elves are busy all year long making gifts, and finding the right ones online if they can't make them .... I thought that was very interesting, and very smart of Santa. Ella and Zoe were rather surprised.

They also had a chat about what they would like for Christmas, if possible, and thankfully they mentioned the same items the wrote on their letters to Santa, and asked for when we saw Santa at Thanksgiving.

Did I mention Santa remembered Zoe and Ella?

That was super exciting : )

So was watching the mall train whiz by ....

.... and riding on the train was even more exciting!!

So now we're set for Christmas Eve.

We're going to make chocolate chip cookies for Santa (and Zoe) and add some gingerbread ones for Mrs. Claus (and Ella).

We're going to leave the reindeer a few carrots and some sugar (for energy), and we're going to leave Santa Mouse a little piece of cheese. We LOVE Santa Mouse.