Sesame Street Live: 1-2-3 Imagine!

One really great thing that happened during our all-day trip see Santa was one of those right place-right time events.

During our second time waiting in line for Santa, we just happened to be behind a little boy whose aunt was there with him. The boy's aunt works for a local radio station and had several free tickets to Sesame Street Live to give away. So..... guess who got to go see Elmo on Sunday?

We got to see Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and all the gang and had some pretty good seats, too. Reid had a great time at the show and, by some more good luck, one of Reid's good friends from school was also there. We had plans to meet up with Andrew and his parents so we saw them before the show and during intermission. Then we all went across the street for a post-show doughnut at Krispy Kreme!

I'm not sure what the highlight of the day was - Elmo or Krispy Kreme - but either way it was a great day!

The Santa Adventure - 2009 Version

A few weeks ago, Reid and I were running errands at the mall on a Monday. While we were there, we happened to walk past Santa in center court and there was no line. I asked Reid if he wanted to go see him and he was surprisingly eager. (Now, as you might remember from last year's Santa Chronicles, he isn't always so eager...)

We were not prepared for a photo op - unbrushed hair, dirty shirt from lunchtime... you get the idea. Even the photo elf looked as us and said, "So, no photo today?" Yes, we looked that bad. :) Reid looked at Santa and paused for a moment, then he walked right up and started telling him all about the Polar Express. He didn't even ask for any toys, they just talked about trains. It was a great experience.

So, with this new experience under our belt I thought it be great to go back in decent clothes for a good Santa photo. So, on Friday, we showed up with a new haircut ready to go. And so did everyone else.

We arrived at 10:15 am and waited in line for about 40 minutes. Reid still seemed excited and waited patiently. When it was our turn, though, things went south quickly. Reid was hesitant to go to Santa, so I offered to walk up there with him. He walked over with his face covered. Santa - being good with children and all - tried to coax him over and was very gentle. Reid grew more upset and clung to my leg. So, after about 3 minutes of this I told him it was fine if he did not want to see Santa, but that we needed to move on to let the other people in line have a turn. That only made things worse! He didn't want to see Santa, but the poor little guy didn't want to NOT see Santa either. I finally had to drag him away screaming. I know people thought he was upset because I tried to make him do it, but he was really the most upset because I made him leave.

I got him calmed down - finally - only after promising that we could come back and give it another try. So, we had lunch in the food court. Reid said he wasn't ready yet and that he needed to play in the play area first. Next we spent about an hour in the play area. He finally decided he was ready - he looked so brave - so at 1:15 we got in the stroller and headed back to the Big Guy.

Guess what? Santa will be back from lunch at 2:15! I relayed the news to Reid and his response was, "Okay. I'll wait." So... we foolishly went and killed some time, then came back about 15 minutes before Santa's lunch break was to end. Another line! This one was shorter so we only waited about 20 minutes. This time when we got to the front Reid was ready. He still needed a little reassurance to take those first steps toward Santa but quickly decided that he wasn't so bad.

We ended up getting some great photos (I have yet to scan the professional ones) and Reid was SO proud of himself afterwards! You could tell that he knew he had faced his fears and conquered them. Mommy was pretty proud, too!

We Love a Parade!

It's Christmastime, and (among other things) that means parades!


There are plenty of parades to choose from in our area. Two years ago Ross took Reid to the Greenville parade while I was out of town. It is a large production, held in the evening. Of course, they get to show off some cool lights, but it also means it is extra cold after sundown and pretty crowded downtown.

Last year, we went to Mauldin parade on whim. It was on a bitter cold Sunday afternoon, but we were prepared with hot chocolate and blankets. Reid loved it, even if it was a very small town parade. So this year we opted for the Simpsonville Christmas parade - still in the afternoon, but a little bigger and not quite as cold.

Reid was very excited about the parade. We weren't 100% sure about the parade route, but we knew we'd find our way - the town is not that big. :) We ended up taking a turn that allowed us to sit right new to the parade judges. After setting up our chairs, we snuggled up and drank hot cocoa while we waited. Reid waited so patiently.



This is the kind of parade I grew up with: a small town thing, with every Tom Dick and Harry who wanted to be in it. There were numerous dance troupes, preschools, sports teams, animals, cowboys, sports cars, Shriners in go carts, trains, clowns... and of course the fire truck with Santa at the end!

Thanksgiving

I'm a bit late on posting about Thanksgiving, because it was mostly uneventful (in the good way!).

We left for Alabama on Wednesday afternoon and were met with massive traffic on I-85 South. It took us 1.5 hours to go less than the 55 miles from our house to the SC/GA line. We knew it would just get worse as we got closer to Atlanta so we stopped at a store, bought a road Atlas, and cut across the north Georgia mountains. We had taken that route once before and knew that technically the mileage was shorter but the drive was longer due to the winding country highways. But, with unending stop-and-go traffic on the interstate it was worth the gamble.

It was a long drive regardless, but thankfully we had plans to stay overnight in lovely Ringgold, Georgia, just south of Chattanooga. We got there a little after 9pm - still much longer than it would normally take.

Part of our reason for stopping to stay overnight was so we could have breakfast with our friends Amanda and Josh the next day. I have known Amanda since college and they lived near us a few years ago in Birmingham. I'm so glad that they live where they do now because we drive right past them every time we go to Alabama.

Nothing like a group photo in the Cracker Barrel store!

Reid and Josh, both equally amused by the mechanical hamsters. :)

After our breakfast we made the trek to Ardmore and got there midday on Thanksgiving. Since the big Martin family dinner was not until Saturday, we had a few leisurely days to do whatever. Of course, that included getting up at the crack of dawn with my mom to do some Black Friday shopping. What's great is that we are both early shoppers and we only go for the sport of it, not to get any "must have" gifts. Makes it SO much more fun! We had an awesome 7.5 hours of shopping that morning - since we awoke at 3 am that meant we were home by lunchtime. There's no way I can tell the stories effectively here, but Home Depot was definitely the highlight of the morning. :)

We had a great time at the Martin dinner on Saturday. Lots of good food and seeing the family, and everyone was there as we are the only ones that have to travel. Hopefully one year we'll be able to have all the Weavers in one place, too, though we are all spread out so that's a much more difficult task for sure.


We headed home on Sunday. It was another long trip, partially due to traffic and partially because Ross let me stop at the outlets in Calhoun, Georgia. He didn't bat an eye when I mentioned it - such a good husband. :)

Philosophy 101

I received this email tonight from Reid's K3 teacher, Miss Ashleigh. I am so glad she shares these little gems with us!

This conversation was taking place during snack today. I thought he was about to admit defeat, but then he threw her totally under the bus. I had to turn my back so he didn't see me laughing :-)

Reid: "I got a Thanksgiving napkin for snack today."
Sophie: "Me, too."
Reid: "No, Sophie, yours isn't Thanksgiving."
Sophie: "Yes, it is."
Reid: "Sophie (short philosophical pause for emphasis), Sometimes people are right and sometimes people are wrong, and today you are wrong."

I wonder where he gets this stuff? Ahem. Never mind. :)