Santa Pictures | Quincy Visit

For the past few years, we have gotten our photo's with Santa while at the Christmas Tree Farm. This year is not different. There is never a huge line and Santa is great about taking time with each child and giving you time to get a photo.

My favorite.  Even if Santa moved his hand mid photo.

I have no idea who or what they were looking at.



Santa's perplexed look when Taft told him he wants an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas.  After I let him know that this was fine to bring, he told Taft that he cooks also. 

 

So - there you have it. Santa photos 2013.
Santa arrived in the afternoon and he must have brought Quincy with him. I think they had a secret meeting about Taft's behavior. Either way, we found Quincy in the pre-cut tree area. Taft thought it was awesome that he showed up there. He brought him a little activity book with crayons to use on the long ride home.

Santa's Christmas Tree Forest

On December 2nd, we went to the Christmas tree farm.  Last year we found out about

Santa's Christmas Tree Forest in Eustis, Florida, and gave it a try.  We loved it and knew we needed go back every year.  I think that it has started a great tradition for us.  

We don't us a live tree in our family room.  I fell in love with the ease of a tall, skinny, pre-lit tree.  I do love the smell of a real tree and the fun of going to get one.  One day we may go back to one but for now, just Taft has one.

When we arrived, the line for tickets was a little long.  Shane stayed in line while Taft and I got some cotton candy.  We then decided to go ahead and go to the petting zoo area since it doesn't need a ticket.   And who did we run into?  Santa. 

So we decided to have a photo taken and have a little chat before it got busy with other kids.

And here is Taft telling Santa about everything that he wants this year.

Once we got to the petting zoo, the first thing that Taft wanted to see was the bunny.  It was very sweet and soft.  He also got to pet and feed goats, a donkey, chickens, and ducks.  The pony wasn't really wanting to talk to anyone.

And one got a little too happy and knocked Taft over.

He also got to ride a horse and that was so much fun.  Taft said that it was "huge".

One of Taft's favorite things to do last year, and again this year, was the little Reindeer Train.  He rode it three times.

After all that fun, we all went out to find the perfect tree for Taft.  It really didn't take him very long.

And I was more than happy to cut it down for him.

Quincy went along for the day too.  He rode in the backpack and helped us collect pieces of all the types of trees at the farm.  Taft loved the way that they felt so we decided to let him take them into school for all the kids in his class to see.

We had a great time and got his perfect tree home.  Then all we had to do was get it up and decorated.

Santa Came!

Taft slept with me on Christmas Eve (he does all the time), he woke up and told me that he heard Santa the night before.  He said that he heard him say, "Ho, Ho, Ho!", and that he was outside when he said it.  I told him that I was sure it was while he was letting the reindeer have their snack.  He agreed and wanted to get up to see if Santa came and left him anything.
He walked into the family room and quickly saw that Santa did make a drop off here.  He was so excited.  It was the first year that he was old enough to know what was going on.

He got the desk and phone with an answering machine that he asked for.  He now has his office that he has wanted.  He also wanted paint and he got a lot of it and a few different kinds.  He also got clay, hand soap, bubble bath, body wash, chalk, a chalkboard/dry erase board, magnetic letters, wood building blocks, Lincoln Logs, a football, candy, and a doctors kit.

We moved the desk to his playroom and he spent hours painting us pictures.

Gran sent him a shaving kit.  He loves it.  He saved in his bath.  

Brunch With Santa at The Zoo

Taft and I woke up early for Saturday morning and got dressed and ready to leave.  We were off to Sanford, Florida, to the zoo.  We have been to the zoo in Jacksonville before, but never to Sanford.  We were going for a special reason.  Brunch with Santa!  Thanks Gran!
Here is how our day went -

 We ate brunch.  There was an all you can eat buffet with pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, fired potatoes, fresh cut fruit, cereal, cereal bars, and muffins.  We also had juice, water, and hot cocoa.

 Santa came to each table to speak to each child.  Taft was so excited that he just started laughing uncontrollably.

 Then he started signing Jingle Bells.  Santa let him finish and told him that even Santa can't put a price on that.

 After breakfast, the kids went outside to make snacks for the animals.  Here, Taft is helping with fruit salad.  It was bananas and cranberries.

 And he got to help make a burrito out of a leaf, pureed veges, and seeds.

 We saw a llama dressed like a reindeer.

 We watched some of the animals eat the snacks that we helped make.

 We got to ride in a "squeaky" car.

 We watched the "big turtles" eat bamboo.

 We hugged..

 and kissed our new friend from Santa.

 We walked in the Butterfly Garden.

 And saw trees full of oranges.

 We played in the playground.

 We took time to be silly.

 We met a turtle.

 And we got to pet him.

 We rode the giraffe on the Merry Go Round.

 And saved the train for last.

 We had a great time.  How can you go wrong with food, Santa, and animals?
Each child got the same gift and they give a different animal each year.  Now I have to find the perfect way to make the little tag that came with it an ornament for Taft's tree.

Taft's Creations

Somehow, I forgot to blog about the two Christmas ornaments that Taft made for me this year.  So - this will be the last post about Christmas.  He made both of them at Preschool and they were sent home on the Thursday before Christmas.  Each time that he sees them on the tree, he points and says, "I did it!!".

The first one his his cute little Santa.  On the back it has a gift tag that says, "To: Mommy, From: Taft".  It is pretty big for an ornament, but I know it will stay on out tree for many years.

The second is a plastic Christmas ball.  They had the kids dip their hands in white paint and then hold the ball.  Each fingertip is a little snowman.  I love them both.

Santa Came!!!

 Santa came and brought Taft a load of new toys, goodies, and even clothes.  Taft woke up at 7:30 am and was ready to see what was here.

 He got a firetruck shirt, a dinosaur shirt, a robot shirt, sweatpants, Play-Doh, books for his Tag Junior, a Magna Doodle, a dinosaur from Dinosaur Train.....

 a Tag Junior (Toy Story Edition), crayons, paint, coloring books, Memory, Craftsmen power tools, Elmo and Wonder Pet videos, another dinosaur......

 an apron and chef hat, griddle pan, cups, plates, plastic wear, cookies and cookie sheet, pizza with pan, and cake with serving pain, and oven mits for his kitchen he got last year.....

 and Play-Doh!  Did I mention Play-Doh?  It is the only thing that Taft has asked for the last few days from Santa.  He also said that he wanted Santa to give Play-Doh to his best friend, CJ.

 His stocking had toothbrushes, sippy cups, an Elmo boo-boo pack, and dinosaur socks.

 The favorite of the Craftsman tools? The flashlight of course.

 These cute little dinos are interactive.  They have conversations and sing together.  I think that if he loves them and the cartoon, we may have to get more to add to the fun.

 The Wonder Pets School House.  Taft still loves Ming-Ming!

All in all, he loved everything but is still not sure where to start.  He is going to have a lot of new things to do this week.  He has already played with Play-Doh and cooked us pizza and cake.  Hopefully, he will take a nap soon.