When we arrived at Santa's special place in the middle of the mall, we found a sign indicating that he was taking a break and would not be back for almost an hour. So, we did some shopping (I'm actually almost done now if you can believe it) and people watching waiting for his much anticipated return. At about 15 minutes before he was due to be back, I thought it would be a good idea to find our place in line... best decision I made today! We were #2 in the line, which was about 25 deep by the time Santa made his appearance.
I have to tell you this was actually Zachary's SECOND visit to Santa... about a week ago, we took him to a larger mall to have his picture taken, which did not exactly go very well. Here is the result of today's visit... I'm so glad I went for round two... this picture and the overall experience made it totally worth it!
Just a little flavor of how round one went... though it was much nicer weather and both Len and I were there with Zachary, it was a very disappointing and incredibly frustrating experience. The line wasn't too bad, but the folks working there with Santa were less than pleasant (I'm actually being nice)... it was not exactly behavior you'd expect from Santa's elves (they must have been having a bad day or something). They only took two pictures, both of which Zachary was fussing and Santa was talking so his mouth was gaping open. When I looked that them, I asked if they could please take another with Santa smiling, and they flat our refused (which annoyed me because Zachary was sitting there all of about 45 seconds vs. the minutes that all of the children in front of us were given). Just because Zachary can't talk to Santa with real words doesn't mean he deserves any less time with the big man himself... you know what I mean?!? Anyway, I refused to pay for the package we asked for (we actually were getting the digital image instead of hard copy photos) and we walked out.
I thought that perhaps we'd go back to the end of the line and try again (I'm not exactly sure why since I'm sure they would be just as, if not more grumpy the second time), but then they ended the line as it was almost time for Santa's break. Oh well, no formal picture, though they allowed me to take one of Len putting Zachary on Santa's lap... he was very tentative, a little scared and even a bit curious looking at this big man in a red suit with lots of white hair.
In the hope of capturing a decent picture of the critter dressed in his cute snowflake sweater, I let Zachary walk around the decor they had outside of Santa's area and took some photos of him there. Here's the absolute WORST part of this whole experience... while I was snapping the shots of the little guy, he started to ease down as if to crawl, so I threw my hands under him before that could happen, since I'm sure the floor was completely covered with disgusting germs and dirt. In the process, I sacrificed our camera for the cleanliness and safety of the little critter... what I'm saying is I DROPPED it while the lens was open, and now it's totally broken and will not even turn on (or off, I guess). (sniff sniff) I'm in mourning as we speak and I'm even experiencing a bit of withdrawal symptoms, as so many Kodak moments are passing me by with no camera to capture them. Imagine my despair! :)
Here is the last ever photo taken with my beloved digital camera - rest in peace my dear Canon Elph PowerShot - I desperately miss you! And please don't think any less of me, as I totally plan on replacing you this weekend (if I can find the right deal on the right product). I'll always remember you and the THOUSANDS of moments you helped me capture over the past three years... beginning with our wedding/honeymoon and ending with our first born! Thanks for the memories!
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