This year, Christmas Eve at Darla's included great food, a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, and eight kids under 5! A few years ago, Darla had one grandbaby - now, including her extended family (as we have forever adopted her), she has eight!Next year, we will need to make a point to take a picture of all of the kids together - which will be a challenge since they will all be mobile then!
Camryn was a little grumpy on the way over to Darla's (this was during a 5 day stretch of her refusing naptime), but once we arrived, she was a happy girl.
Before leaving for Darla's - see, just a little bit grumpy :). [Funny story about this poor Santa - Camryn was very fond of this Santa and loved playing with him. One day, I hear her talking (which she does ALL DAY LONG!) and then I realized she was talking to the Santa. She said, poo-poo pants (as she was pulling his pants down looking at his bum). Then, she took him and put him on the potty. He was this close to garbage as he almost made it into the water. YUCK. Since she is potty training, she "checks" everyone and everything for "poo-poo". Can't wait for it to be my turn!]
With Carly and Drake at the kids table:
Darla had a great surprise for the kids - she arranged for a very authentic Santa to come and visit with all of the kids. We had been talking about Santa for several weeks and she was very excited about him. (It all sounds a bit creepy when you're explaining the idea of Santa to a 2 year old: well, he's this old man who sees you all of the time - even though you can't see him; he knows if you've been good or bad; he wants you to sit on his lap and tell you what you want for Christmas, then he'll sneak into your house when you're asleep and leave it for you!)
Well, when Camryn saw him walk through the door - she ran straight to Robby and said, 'Bobby - SANTA CLAUS!' Utter amazement! Then, she walked up to him, waved and said hi. That is when fear set in. She then spent a good amount of time sitting on the stairs just staring at him. She did agree to sit on my lap while I sat on Santa, so we got some pictures that way. We did take some video of this visit - we need to watch it and see what we've got.
Camryn sitting on the stairs with Parker and Leslie:
High-five! Drake is brave with Santa (after a little coaching!):
Jennifer and Nicole with the other three kiddos: Ethan Noah Herb, JJ and Lyla:
Camryn's keeping an eye on Santa while snuggling Grandma:
Finally on my lap, on Santa's lap:
Before and after Santa's visit, we spent a lot of time outside so the kids had room to run (Darla's house is filled with pretty (and breakable!) things) - a few pictures of the kiddos outside:
Camryn and Parker:
Posing with Grandma in the front yard:
And with me:
Cody was a great baby as always - woke up long enough to have a bottle, but then fast asleep.
After Santa's visit, we exchanged presents and headed home. It was a great Christmas Eve as always (although we really missed the Hyde family) - many thanks to Darla for hosting and to everyone for all of the presents!
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