Breakfast With Santa

Addison's preschool has an annual 'Breakfast with Santa' at Christmas time.  I've heard lots about it and was excited to finally attend now that we have reason to support a school that our little girly is a student of.  I talked it up quite a bit, hoping that when it came time to actually "meet" Santa that Addison and Jonas would mosey right on up to him.  Guess I should have prepped a little harder than I did....because neither of them were having any bit of it.

Oh they were definitely interested in the pancakes and milk and juice and sausage that we dined on when we got there.  So much so, that John and I never really had a chance to actually eat ours.  I am convinced Jonas ate three huge pancakes and two sausage patties while Addison managed to dump her milk within seconds of sitting down....and then proceeded to eat her weight in pancakes and sausage.  Yes, I promise we feed our children!  On top of downing every last morsel of breakfast, they were also on a personal mission to cover every square inch of that gym floor.  At least Jonas was.  Apparently that syrup went straight to those little legs because that boy would NOT hold still.  It was a very exhausting morning to say the least.

And of course, Mommy and Daddy had to join in on Santa's lap so the two little ones would hold still and dry up their tears long enough for a picture.  

Look at that lovely centerpiece by a lovely girly who refused to smile.  We scored the lucky table at Santa's breakfast!

Lucky Mommy volunteered to take the kiddos to the city parade after breakfast.  Considering how our morning was going so far, I should have just taken that as a reminder, and promptly headed home.  But nope, I was over zealous and ready to relive my childhood memories of the magic of parades...with two kids in tow.  Daddy apparently didn't have any fond memories of parades so he was given a pardon to excuse himself to do some Christmas shopping.  Lucky him.  Unlucky me.  

I pushed the kiddos in the stroller over to the grocery store to use the bathrooms before it started getting too chaotic.  Here I thought I was doing good and planning ahead.  That was the ONLY smooth part of our morning.  The rest consisted of us being about 45 minutes early to a parade.  Addison asking a million questions because she didn't quite understand why we were sitting on the road for so long and not seeing anything worthy of our time.  By the time the parade actually began, we were still sitting on the road, at least I was.  Addison was cranky in the back of the stroller and Jonas was strapped down in the front of the stroller and we were flanked by crowds on every side of us and quickly losing our "front row seat" to the festivities.  I'm not particularly fond of crowds and quickly grew agitated at the pre-tween boys who were creeping on top of us while shouting cat calls at the young pre-tween cheerleader girls.  Especially the part where the lone Grandmother, with her camera was inching closer and closer to me and two crying toddlers who could no longer even see the floats.  Niiiiccceee, nothing like squashing out a young child's excitement of actually SEEING anything float by in the parade.  Especially when both guilty parties could have collectively clocked this as their 87th time seeing a Christmas parade.  

The kiddos...pre-meltdown.

When tears began welling up in my eyes, I quickly decided it was time to bring our parade experience to a close and head out with two crying children and an almost crying mother.  Addison was puzzled as to why we were leaving and wasn't even buying my "Parade is over!" explanation as it continued to carry on, right beside where we were walking.  I threw two over tired children in the car, buckled myself in, and let the tears roll.  Easily one of the LONGEST days of my life....and it was only 1:00 pm.  Within minutes, I regained my composure and noticed the two sleeping children in the back, and decided I'd be dining on Burger King for lunch and enjoy the silence I was hoping for for so long.  Lets just say....it was beautiful.  Sad and desperate.....but beautiful nonetheless.  Here's to reviewing our game plan for next year and trying to achieve a more optimal experience.