A very early visit to Santa.

We had a busy at-home day today. Hurricane Ida's remnants are making their way through the area and there was a LOT of rain. I got the laundry done, designed the Christmas cards so I can order them tomorrow, and cleaned up the third floor since we have a houseful of guests coming for Thanksgiving. We decided to go out for a quick dinner and then maybe stop by the mall to see Santa, who arrived this week.

We went to Chili's for dinner. We got there just at the start of the dinner rush. Sophie was perfectly calm when we got there, but as the meal went on, she just got crazier and goofier. Perhaps she knew how exciting a visit to Santa was going to be. It was at the point where I was laughing uncontrollably watching her. She simply couldn't sit still. I think her chocolate milk was spiked with a little eggnog!

We got to the mall and were surprised to see NO LINE for Santa! Sophie walked right in and hopped up on his lap. EJ was checking out Santa's bag of toys next to him...there was a Wii box right on top. He told me that he was trying to find a place for it, and EJ offered to take it home with her tonight! Sophie told him that she was a good girl and that she wanted a toy pony.

We did plan ahead for the photo. The girls wore their Santa shirts - Sophie's says "Santa's Favorite" and EJ's says "I love Santa". EJ's didn't show up well in the photo since the letters are in silver. We will be seeing Santa again at the annual mother's club breakfast with him in a few weeks.