Choo-Choo Trains and Santa Clause
Meme, Marg, Ellie, and I met Lisa, Andrew, Erica, Julie, and Aunt Angela at Kennilworth to see the fantastic train garden and to see the big man himself... Santa Clause. Here are Andrew and Ellie making wishes with Lisa. Actually, it ended up that they just liked throwing pennies (aka: "wishes") into the water and they never quite got the whole 'make a wish' thing... Maybe next time?

Ellie rocking Ishkibibble before we left to meet everyone. Ishkibibble (sound it out) was Papoo's teddy bear from when he was a kid and he gave it to Ellie on her 2nd birthday.

Ellie and Andrew with Santa Clause. Before you 'ooh and aah', let me tell you that it took about 20-25 min to get this picture! I am sure that all of the parents behind us were loved us by the end. I was willing to come back another day when it wasn't so crowded but Santa was very calm and patient and helped coach (and coax) us through it. Notice that she is as far away as possible, when we walked up she freaked out and her monkey arms (and legs) held on tighter than ever to me. She wouldn't even let me sit near him! But brave Andrew walked right up to Santa, Gave him a hug and sat on his lap. Anyway, this was as close as we could get her and right after this photo was taken she was feeling awfully proud of herself until she turned around and realized that Santa was right there, she yelped and ran over to me. What a girl!!

Pretty Ellie gazing at the water, probably trying to figure out how to get in and play with it!! The both of them were more amazed by the water than anything else (except for maybe Santa)!
If you listen real hard I think you can almost hear him thinking, "Just you wait. There is so much more to me than these good looks!"
Making wishes.

Mommy and Ellie by the fountain.
Ellie and the choo-choos.