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| About to meet Santa |
We were excited to take Ryder to meet Santa for the first time. But like all parents, we were
dreading the long lines. Would it really be worth standing
in line for an hour and a half to meet someone Ryder would never remember?
We decided we wanted the picture bad enough and headed to the
mall.
On a tip from a friend, we went to Nordstrom (having heard their line was shorter). Sure enough, when we arrived there was no line at all and Santa was already waving excitedly to Ryder the moment we stepped off the elevator. It turns out Ryder was quite content sitting on Santa’s lap (he probably thought it was the warmest, snuggliest blanket he’d ever sat on).
On a tip from a friend, we went to Nordstrom (having heard their line was shorter). Sure enough, when we arrived there was no line at all and Santa was already waving excitedly to Ryder the moment we stepped off the elevator. It turns out Ryder was quite content sitting on Santa’s lap (he probably thought it was the warmest, snuggliest blanket he’d ever sat on).
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| Ryder and Santa |
To our surprise (and you should make a note of this), Nordstrom will also let you take pictures with Santa using your own camera (rather than spending the ridiculous $20 for one 5x7). So we took some of our own
pics. And since there was still no line, they let Ryder spend some extra time with Santa. Santa kept asking Ryder if he wanted an Xbox 360. I told him we only buy Apple.
When we were done taking our shots we thanked Santa and his
elves and headed out. We were so
excited about our pictures that we pulled over in the children's shoe department to take a look at them. That's when we discovered our camera’s settings had gotten messed up by a certain member of the Rice family whose name, I can only say, rhymes with "messy." The pictures were all
grainy. Christmas was ruined.
We shyly went back and asked if we could have another sitting with Santa. The pro photographer stuck up his nose but Santa was thrilled to have another chance to hang with Ryder. We got some more shots. Thanks Nordstrom! We’ll be back next year for sure! (ed. note: The Rices do not officially endorse Nordstrom. Unless for some reason it meant they'd want to compensate us. Then we'll totally do it.)
We shyly went back and asked if we could have another sitting with Santa. The pro photographer stuck up his nose but Santa was thrilled to have another chance to hang with Ryder. We got some more shots. Thanks Nordstrom! We’ll be back next year for sure! (ed. note: The Rices do not officially endorse Nordstrom. Unless for some reason it meant they'd want to compensate us. Then we'll totally do it.)
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| Oh dad! |
After pictures with Santa we went and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. In a happy coincidence, we were seated at the very same table where we first learned we were having a boy! So fun making new memories with our growing family!