seattle santa

It's that time of year again...Santa!  Ever since Ava was a baby we've been going to the Nordstrom Santa in downtown Seattle.  We've had our moments in which we question our sanity for making this trek.  The longest wait we endured (and by we I really mean Brian because he stood outside in the freezing cold) was around four hours.  One year I completely lost my mind and we went during a huge ice/snow storm.  There were mounds of ice on the very narrow, car lined, hilly streets of Seattle.  Nuts.

This year was completely different.  We had prepared for the now normal hour wait, however, when we arrived there was...wait for it...ONE family ahead of us.  What?!  Honestly, we didn't know what to do with ourselves.  Don't worry, Lucy provided the missing excitement.

There's usually some really great photos of the kids waiting in line, but this time...
There were, however, a few sweet moments while we waited our turn.
The kiddos were able to see Santa, but had slightly different experiences with the jolly fella.
After seeing Santa we head over to Pacific Place for some dinner! Wait...it's only 4 pm. We didn't really know what to do with ourselves not having the long wait for Santa. Why not do a little shopping? And twirling.
Nutcrackers!
...and this one, well, just because. Good work Lucy.
As promised, the video below provides all the excitement courtesy of Lucy's opinion of Santa.  My favorite part is Ava and Noah just looking at her, and then smiling for the camera as if the hysterical toddler wasn't even there.  Not to worry, Mama/Daddy, Uncle Brian, bubbles, a rocking horse, and puppy puppet helped her recover.  It should be said this Santa was so calm and kind.  At the end of video he turns ever so slightly and says her name...nope.  She was outta there!