santa.

Last year when our neighbor told us about a local place that has an excellent Santa photo set-up, we were beyond thrilled. Malls around here have either a horrible Santa OR you wait in line for hours.

2010 - Nathan's First Christmas: We went to Fair Oaks mall, spent about 2 hours in line (maybe more?), and we got his first shot with Santa. Great Santa, but holy moly what a long wait!

2011 - Nathan's Second Christmas: We thought that instead of driving to Fair Oaks Mall, fighting for a parking spot, and then spending hours in line, we would try our local mall. It was horrible! Nathan was terrified and the Santa was beyond questionable. While it made for a hilarious picture, we vowed to find something different moving forward.

2012 - Nathan's Third Christmas: Somehow this didn't make it to last year's blog (weird, right?), but we went to Merrifield Garden Center, where they had an amazing Santa who spent time to make Nathan comfortable, involved the whole family, and there was hardly a wait!

2013 - Nathan's Fourth Christmas: We headed back to the garden center again this evening and had another great experience. Unlike last year, where we had to be in the picture with Nathan in order for a picture to be possible, Nate jumped right up with Santa. They had a funny little talk that centered more around how Santa made everything v. what Nathan wants for Christmas, made funny faces together, and had some cute little moments.

We also paid to get a family photo done. The price really can't be beat - $5 for  six digital images that they emailed directly to me! I also was able to take a bunch of pictures with my own camera :)

Once we said our goodbyes to Santa, Chris and I took turns taking pictures with Nate in Santa's sleigh. I love the decorations in this place! So cute!