Last year we did Christmas a little different – we celebrated as a family at our house a week or two before Christmas, and then we spent the actually holiday with our families in Georgia and South Carolina. This allowed us to give the girls some of their big gifts early so we didn’t have to travel with them (and they provided tons of entertainment during the long car ride). It was really nice to have a small celebration with just the 4 of us, and I had definitely planned to do something similar this year.
And then around the beginning of November, I saw a sign in front of our local fire station for something called the “Santa Hotline”. I pass that fire station on the way to the girls’ school so I saw the sign a lot. So much that I decided to actually call the number on the sign and find out what it was all about. Unfortunately, the hotline message wasn’t quite clear, but it mentioned that Santa would be making stops in our city on the weekend of December 14th & 15th and to secure your visit by dropping by the fire station in person with a small donation. Needless to say, I was intrigued. Santa? Making stops in my neighborhood? How cool is that? And it would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate Christmas as a family before heading off to the grandparents houses for the big holiday. So I stopped by the fire station with a donation in hand and tons of questions, but I left that day with very little information…other than that Santa would be dropping by our house after 4pm on Sunday. No idea how he would arrive, who would be with him, how long he would stay, etc.
So imagine how excited we were when this showed up outside our house with the lights and sirens blaring:
The kids went nuts. I was pretty nuts too. It was really cool. And after a full lights and siren show, out popped Santa and a few elves. Naturally, we invited them in and pictures happened. Lots of them.
I was so excited that I didn’t even grab my nice camera…can you tell? Finally, my husband pulled it together, found my camera, and took this picture. Meh, it might be the best we get of all 3 kids with Santa this year. 
At least no one is screaming.
Once all the pleasantries were exchanged it was time for presents. And, oh, were there presents. They each got some clothes, Hazeline got the Doc McStuffins Get Better Check Up Center, and someone even got a big girl bike:
It was on her list. Check out the wrapping still on it…just consider it an elf oversight. Thank goodness we took it off for the actual test ride:
And after about 10-15 minutes, our personal visit was over. Hugs were exchanged
and it was time for Santa to hit the road.
We were sad to see him go, but thrilled that he had time to visit us. He definitely made our early family Christmas much more special.
