Gavin Meets Santa

Every year for Christmas, Chad's office throws a party. And this is not just any party. They have it in the airplane hanger at work, set up a big chair right next to a Christmas tree that is covered in tons of presents. (Each parent brings a wrapped gift for their children.) They have a helicopter sitting out in front of the hanger and once everyone is there, they fire up the helicopter and take off to go get Santa! The kids wait a little bit and then all of a sudden, you hear the helicopter coming and it lands right back in front of the hanger and out pops Santa!! He has a bag of candy to hand out to the children and then it is present time!!! He calls each child up and hands them their present. At the end of it, each kid gets to take their picture with Santa.

All dressed up to go see Santa

So needless to say I was all over this! We went to the one they had in El Paso last year and I cried practically the whole time. It is just the coolest thing that they do for the kids. So I got Gavin's gift and loaded him up in the car and off we went to meet Santa! Unfortunately Chad is in Austin this weekend so he did not get to see this but I took LOTS of pictures.

Santa stepped out of the helicopter and the kids went nuts. They loved it. Of course I think Santa is the one that had the best time. It was time to hand out presents and I patiently waited for Gavin's name to be called. I say "I" because Gavin could have really cared less about anything that was going. He just wanted to stick his hands in Mommy's cupcake. This whole thing was more for my sake than his. It was finally the big moment and his name got called. I put him in Santa's lap and rushed to get into position to take pictures. And Gavin just stared at him. He had this look on his face like "Do you have a cupcake I can smash?" And then his attention went to his beard and he desperately wanted to pull that off. So fortunately Gavin did not act like his mother used to and scream her head off at the mere sight of Santa. I wouldn't even let my little brother sit on his lap. Pure drama.

What's the big deal?

His favorite part of the whole evening was opening his present. He had a blast doing that. Of course I had to keep stopping him from putting bits of paper in his mouth but the bow appeared to taste delicious. He got a ball that makes noises (why do I do this to myself??) and lights up and rolls around on its own. He loves it.

So Gavin's first visit with Santa went great. He took it all, just like he does with everything else, with a calm stride. He is very much an observer and then likes to decide what he wants to get his hands on. He doesn't just dive right in. I am looking forward to the many Christmas' ahead of us and sharing the holiday spirit with him. I'm just so delighted I finally have my sweet family to share it with!