Scary Claus

Thank goodness for GG. She has been making us dinner and helping with the girls, making me lie down and keeping me from breaking down. It will be hard to let her go tomorrow.

We had an interesting day today that turned out so much differently than I'd anticipated.
I had plotted a surprise gift for Parker and her parents for weeks and had finally worked up the gumption and secured the back up to execute. Unfortunately the girls did not behave as I'd hoped.

We made it all the way to Oakridge mall barf free (on my part). We walked past the kids play zone and numerous stores with fancy flashing windows; waited a good 15 long minutes in a line with other fidgety, dressed up little kids, only to have the prize at the end squandered from my grasp.
The girls hated Santa.
It was fine to watch the other kids move ahead and climb onto his lap smiling perfectly for their photos. But when it came to our turn, Little E and Parker cried and screamed and clawed at my neck. They didn't want to be anywhere near him. Even when I sat with him and GG sat with him and we talked to him and peeked in his toy bag, they would not be convinced.
Santa was scary.
So, no photos with Santa this year, though we did manage to get some of the girls with the festive backdrop.

The saving grace of the day was a double fire truck push car that we strapped the girls into to get them back to the car, oh, and frozen yoghurt.