The mall & Santa

Last week, Jeff was out of town, so I took the kids to the Crescent Shopping Centre to visit Santa by myself. They were fantastic at the mall, staying close to me and following my directions. They were very shy and unsure with Santa, but no one cried. However, the only way we were getting a photo was for me to get in with them.

Walter kept looking down. So in order to get him to look up, I pointed at the lights above the photographer's head. I figured looking too far up was better than down.

Today we had to swing up to the Shannon airport to pick up Jeff's car (about a 45 minute drive) so we decided to stop at the Crescent on the way there. We had a number of errands to run there and I was craving a Gingerbread latte from Costa. We were happily surprised to find a group set up playing, and dancing, to traditional Irish music. The kids just loved it!

Watching the music. That's my coffee that Jeff is holding.

Adele is pretty mesmerized by the Irish dance. I just wish she seemed inclined to participate herself,  because I would sign her up in a heartbeat.

Enjoying the music. I'd put the kids in Christmas shirts today. We have a number of them, so they will be wearing them a lot this month.

We then drove to the airport, dropped off Jeff, and drove home. I fed the kids a hefty snack since they didn't eat much lunch at Subway at the mall. Then we loaded up the stroller and headed to the Lakeside Hotel here in town. They were having a big Santa visit. The kids loved it!  They were still unsure about Santa until he handed them each a big box of chocolate at the end. I think that might have changed their minds forever.  At this Santa visit, we all jumped in for the photo, but I don't get to pick it up until Wednesday or later. After Santa, we let them sit down and eat one of their chocolates. Then Gordon and Adele got their faces painted. Adele was such a big girl, standing so still, keeping her eyes closed, and following all of the face painters instructions. I asked Walter, but he said he didn't want any face paint.

Adele's beautiful Christmas Tree face paint. 

The kids loaded up in the stroller to head home. You can see Gordon's face paint, too. The Lakeside looks beautiful all decorated for the holidays.

The always amazing view from the Lakeside