Brynn might not have been a fan of the helicopter or Santa, but she loved the balloon we got there, so the outing was a success. 
I really wanted to get all my Christmas shopping done early this year (and thank goodness I did since I was completely out of commition the entire week before Christmas) so I needed the kids to lock in on what they wanted from Santa. Our kids know that Santa brings one present to each person in our house so they think really hard about the thing they want the very most and ask him for it. I didn't want any mind changing after my shopping was done so we solidified our requests early by writing our letters to Santa and then visiting the big guy himself. Because once he's gone back and told the elfs what toys to make we can't do anything about it. So this year Mason asked for an Optimus Prime sword that lights up and makes sounds and Brynn asked for a doll house (although sometimes she would randomly say she wanted a pink piggy helmet...no idea where that came from).So we went down to the Riverwoods to sit on Santa's lap. Both kids were very excited to see Santa while in line, but once again Brynn changed her mind as soon as it was our turn.
I let Mason have a sweet little chat with Santa before trying to get Brynn to at least get close enough for a picture. 
The closest she got was arm's length away just long enough to take the candy cane from his hand then she was back in my arms. He asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she did respond loud and clear she wanted a doll house. When our turn was done she would stand in the doorway for a picture with Santa in the background at least. 
My grandparents are so sweet and send each of the grandkids a personalized letter from Santa each year. Our letters arrived in the mail on a day when unknown to me Mason had snuck my phone and hid it to play angry birds when he wasn't supposed to. When he read in the letter that he had been a good boy this year and was on the nice list he exclaimed, "I am so surprised!! I thought I was on the naughty list because I sneeked your phone!" He made me laugh so hard that he got off pretty easy for his poor choice he accidentally confessed to.
This year I have really charished and loved the sweet and pure belief in Santa that Mason has. I know that Santa is not the important part of Christmas and we stress that very much in our home, but it still is a wonderful and magical thing that will be gone too soon. Earlier this year I thought we had been robbed of the few short years of belief. You see back in June a little neighbor girl told Mason the whole truth about Christmas explaining every last detail of how your parents put out the presents after you are asleep and everything. For the next few days Mason explained to us that Santa wasn't real and we just bought the presents. I was so sad I cried all day trying to figure out what to say to him. I ended up not saying a whole lot about it but just stating that I believed in Santa. I was so relieved as Christmas approached and Mason never brought it up again and based on his words and actions his belief was strong as ever. It made for a wonderful Christmas season of anticipation and excitement.
