Our Elf's First Visit

All week, we have been preparing Amelia for a visit from her elf.  We have read the book and discussed what will happen when her elf arrives.  Well, this morning her elf arrived.  She was sitting at the landing on the stairs and brought Amelia an ornament to commemorate her first visit to our house.  Amelia was really excited to find her this morning.  We read the book again, and Amelia gave her the name Princess.  I have no idea where she came up with this name, because she doesn't watch princess stuff, but this is the name she is sticking to.

Visit with Santa 2014

This afternoon, Amelia was able to visit with Santa Claus.  She told him that she wanted baby blue and red cars.  She is still stuck with wanting a blue and a red matchbox car.  It doesn't matter that she already has a blue and a red matchbox car.  She seems to want to increase her collection.

While waiting for Santa, Amelia tried out riding a four-wheeler,

colored with Daddy,

sat on Daddy's shoulders for a view of Santa,

 

and had a huge grin when it was finally her turn to visit with Santa Claus.

 

Amelia walked straight up to Santa and sat on his lap.

She smiled for the camera, and 

she asked him to bring her baby cars that were red and blue.

 

She was very pleased with her visit and even tried the candy cane he gave her.  She didn't like it and asked me to throw it away.

On the way out of the store, Daddy decided to show Amelia how to shoot a gun at a target. 

 

Mommy took Amelia on a carousel ride.  She wanted to ride on a reindeer and chose the one with the broken antlers.

While on the carousel, she realized that Daddy had popcorn and immediately wanted OFF of the carousel to eat it.  She kept yelling at him not to eat it all.  She was quite excited when he handed her half a box of popcorn.

We had a great time!

North Pole Express 2014

Last night, we took the train to the North Pole to visit Santa.  Amelia has been EXTREMELY excited about riding the train.  Since she knew what to expect from last year, we talked to her about how it was okay to talk to Santa (she was scared of him last year), and an elf would visit her house this year, so she should be nice to her elf's friends when they came to see her.  Amelia acted like a professional Polar Express rider.

She waited patiently outside until they said "All Aboard" and humored Mommy with some pictures.

She had her ticket punched and went straight to her seat and waited for the train to move.

As the conductor announced that we were arriving, she looked out the window to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. 

When the elves arrived, Amelia was happy to visit with them.  She even met an elf that works in the "baby car" (aka matchbox car) division of the North Pole who promised to make her a red car and a blue car.  We haven't visited Santa yet, so this was news to Mommy.

Amelia was a little hesitant when Santa and Mrs. Claus first arrived, so at first, we had them stand behind her for a picture.  When she realized Santa was going to pass her without talking to her, Amelia shook his hand and told him she wanted some baby cars.  This girl knew not to let the moment go without talking to the big man. 

The cookies and milk arrived, and Amelia dove right in to eat her snack.

Our train was heading back to the station, so it was time to say goodbye.

This is such a fun tradition for our family!  We are looking forward to riding the train to the North Pole again next year!  Merry Christmas!