Saturday, November 30, 2013 
At 108 Budleigh, Manteo, NC
First day of "A Weekend with Santa"
   The first children to appear were 2 little blond girls.  The first wanted a Rainbow and she liked ALL the colors. The second, about 3, wanted purple PEAS and she was positive that was what she wanted! She was also reluctant to get on Santa's lap but she eventually succumbed to his charming ways!
   They seem to be coming in twos today.  Next were two little brunettes, both into animals. The first wanted a real chameleon, a toy deer, a leopard, and a tiger. The other one wanted a kitty, a puppy, a Barbie and a castle, Barbie Castle of course!
   Lots of Barbie requests and a little boy that wanted a flame guitar Then we had a Pogo stick for a shy little  fellow.  I told him he needed a helmet to go with it,  no Problem, he was ok with that.
Next was a Rolling chair for an older girl because  she has one but it just sits there. She also wanted an American girl doll.  She wasn't sure which one, maybe Sage but since she is the 2013 American Girl doll, she is old & almost done.  Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!
   And there was a question I had NEVER been asked "Do you get many Trick or Treaters at your place at the North Pole?" from a 4/5 year old girl!
There was also a first in gift requests, a little girl asked for a violin. She said she had played a guitar, but she wanted to learn to play the violin. Next was the Boy who wanted cash, iPod 5 or 6. whichever #, A Wii and a better pool.  "What's wrong with the pool you have?", I asked.  The boy answered as if to say it's obvious, "The waters too cold!"
   Had another little guy ask for a guitar and a little girl wanted one so she could learn to play hip hop music!  The last requests of the day were the fellow who asked for multi-colored candy canes and the young big-eyed  blond who wanted a real diamond, "a big one!"  I didn't feel I should tell her that was  no doubt coming about 15-20 years in the future!
   The picture following is a poster I got from the little girl who asked about how many Trick or Treaters we had at the North Pole.  I think Halloween is still on her mind!

To continue the first day, there were the usual assorted wishes again, many of the girls wanted easy bake ovens and baby dolls, including one who wanted a baby baby doll! Many of the boys wanted race cars, but one wanted a goose duck call!( I'm not sure what a goose duck is tho!) One little girl did comment that I was a pretty skinny Santa, so I told her I had been working out...and I have, twice a week...most weeks, anyway!
The best list I saw was the little girl who wanted a ninja suit and num chucks! Oh and she also wanted an easy bakery! One little girl wanted a flying fairy and another wanted a pet shop! I couldn't make these up, Folks! And that's the latest from Santa's lap!
Oops, I almost forgot, as we were getting to the end, a group of ladies came in (All over 40) and a couple of them asked if they could sit on my lap. Of course I said yes, Santa refuses no one! While the picture was being taken, one of the ladies said they were members of the Retired Strippers Club. Well, Santa is seldom at a loss for words so I asked. "Why retired?"

 

Here are the first two lists Santa received:

 

Well, first time in the red suit for 2013 today. Had about 100 kids in 3 hours at Belk. Because it had been advertised they were doing free pictures, many of the kids came dressed in their Christmas finest. It was great to see all the little girls in their bright red dresses and the little boys in Christmas sweaters. One of my favorites was the two sisters who came in all dressed up and immediately after having their picture taken left the store. A couple of minutes later they came back in and their Mom explained, they had to go change into their flip-flops! 

Here is a beautifully colored picture presented to Santa today!