Sydni vs. Santa

We took a 50/50 chance on doing the whole Santa Claus thing with Sydni today.
It didn't go well. I wouldn't really say there was an upper hand on either side, let alone a winner.

We'll get back to that.

heavy sleepers!

Today was excellent. It began when I found my dad snuggled up next to his grand daughter in the twin bed that was originally mine as a teenager. I later realized that both Joe and I had slept straight through Sydni waking up in the middle of the night crying for Nana and Pappy. She knows better than to call for Mommy and Daddy, especially when we're visiting the grandparents. Haha. It was a cute little scene, and I know Sydni loves being spoiled rotten, so this was just perfect for her.

Once we were all up and moving, we headed up to Bellville -- no, not Belleville [IL], but Bellville Ohio -- for lunch at Toyer's Dutch Heritage. It's been quite a while since I've been to an Amish restaurant, but it took me back to my younger years when we used to go frequently. We survived the majority of the outing there without incident; Sydni had one minor meltdown that was cured by Daddy taking her out to the car for a little vent session after which she was just fine. The weather provided for the perfect experience, and so we took our time dining before heading back to Mt. Vernon for what would be a terrifc fail at visiting Santa.



we don't love santa... yet.



Once I hunt down the picture of me with Santa Claus when I was about Sydni's age, I will share that with the class, as I remember it being a near duplication of the scene we saw today [poor thing]. The snapshot of toddler me with random mall Santa showed Santa standing, holding what could only be described as a hysterically terrified child, flailing with a life-altering urgency to escape that jolly, bearded man and all of his holiday magnificence. Charming photograph, really. Looking at it almost strikes a sense of pity for the Santa, who I'm sure was persuaded by no less than a handful of parents like mine to 'just hold her for a second!' While we didn't instruct today's Santa to constrain Sydni for photography's sake, we guided her over to Mrs. Claus, who did her best to daintily detain my child while we made lightning-like attempts to capture the moment. It came out, as you can see, just bursting of magic and fluff...... or not.

We'll try it again next year.

We calmed both her and our nerves by venturing out into the rest of that shopping plaza and finding some other fun photo-friendly opportunities. One of my favorite pictures to date of Sydni was a product of today; I'm both proud of myself for seizing that moment and amazed at how much she changes, daily, it seems. I'll end on the note of sharing those shots with my fellow blogbots.

 

Tomorrow, we'll head back to the other Belleville. *Sigh.
Praying for travel mercies for all those heading back home after the holiday! :)

xo | cmd