Santa Claus and Dear Friends

Twas a couple of days before Christmas and all through the house, the children were gearing up to go see SANTA CLAUS!  Usually we go to Selfridge's for Santa, but this year they didn't have their grotto, so we decided to explore other options.  At the school fair, Santa proved to be skinny, 'didn't even say Ho Ho Ho!' and had to be prompted to ask the girls what they wanted for Christmas, so we were a little wary of what Santa at our local garden center would be like.  Evie is no fool and is quick to assess the authenticity of Santa.  Usually, Santa doesn't pass the test.

So, after having a pep talk about Santa and all of his Santa Helpers who saw children and gave messages back to the REAL Santa, we headed to the garden center.  Santa scored points by having coloring and the movie Polar Express playing in the waiting room. 

He also had several rooms dedicated to the North Pole and a friendly elf who was happy to sit through our family rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

 And, as we approached the door, we could hear him Ho Ho Ho'ing his heart out!  He was a jolly Santa with a good sense of humor and the girls loved him. He laughed at their jokes and conceded that he liked banana cookies (a recipe that was new to us, but suggested by Evie).  He also suggested doing jazz hands for some of the pictures, which Jim and I thought was amazing!

So did he pass the test?  After some thought, Evie concluded that he did not.  'His voice wasn't right and even though his belly was big, his beard had some strings hanging from it.'  Off the record, his costume was also kind of ridiculous. BUT, we all agreed that he's probably one of Santa's closest helpers and will definitely relay all the 'wants' (except the ipad ask that Millie sprung on us.  Yeah, right.)

But really, as Jim pointed out, how hard would it be to pay a little more for a chubby guy with a real beard?

After all that excitement, we had even more to look forward to on Christmas Eve. Our dear friends Rashmi and Siddarth are in town and, since we hadn't seen them for over five years, we were thrilled to be able play tourist with them this afternoon. First stop:  Covent Garden! 

Where we spent no less than £13 pounds on street performers....some of whom were more worth it than others!

Eventually, after wandering and a stop for pizza, we parted at Regents Street, where throngs of crowds were doing their last minute Christmas shopping. Nothing like leaving it until Christmas Eve! 

So, happy times with good friends, a decent Santa, and, to top it off, we stood outside in the freezing cold to see if we could see Santa off in space (we think we did!).  Tomorrow should be fun!  Merry Christmas Eve!