1. Today's gig at Kitty hawk Kites was a bit different! First I was an hour early because, even though I wrote down 1-4 in my book, I thought it was 12-4. Another thing it was so windy that when I went to the top of the tower, I had to keep a firm grip on my Santa cap or it would have ended up in Avon! Also a couple of gusts almost blew me off my feet!
   We were busy again all day with a line of up to a dozen during the last half hour. Today Santa received several lists and pictures and I will be sharing some of these with you. Here's a sample:
   More tomorrow, Santa is bushed now!

 

To continue Saturday’s adventure with Santa at Kitty Hawk Kites, please read on! This was the night when they lit the Christmas tree on Jockey’s Ridge and flew what they call Kites with Lights! It was a very good day for that because it was windy enough to fly a car hood! See Kitty Hawk Kites FaceBook page for some really cool shots of the event!
I am enclosing a couple more examples of the notes I got and I think you will understand why I had each read it to me! ... I will post the others on my blog Santa’s Diary with my best translation! On Saturday I got two separate requests for horses, my cousin Jan Welch would have appreciated that. I did ask one girl where she would put the horse and she said that she had a barn! Another girl wanted a Panda and after deliberation she decided a stuffed one was the best choice! Had one request for a snow board and I guess she was planning on sliding down the dune with it!
Here is a selection of wants from one list: Pug mask, Mud filter, Fake blood, Abandoned house, and a Ghost! I cannot begin to compute how these things relate…and they probably don’t! But I don’t want to meet that ghost covered with fake blood wearing the Pug mask in the abandoned house even if he has been through the mud filter!
And here’s another list: Puppy!!!!!!! Golden Retriever, Collar-Blue, Leash-Green, Shampoo for Puppy, Bed for puppy, Cage for puppy, Super Scooper, Everything for a puppy! Her Mom said this was the 4th year she had asked for a puppy(she was about 7 or 8) and it was probably going to be another year before she got one!
Today Santa was at the delightful brunch that Blue Water Grill has every Sunday. It was a special appearance and I spoke to about 2 dozen kids from 4 weeks old to 14 years old, the last who I had to remind that if she didn’t talk to Santa she would get underwear for Christmas! It was very nice because I was able to spend some time with each little one and get to know them a bit! I am going to close this section of Santa’s diary with pictures of some of the lists and pictures I received yesterday. Next weekend Manteo tree lighting and parade! Come to downtown Manteo and share the Christmas spirit!
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Black Friday, 2016

Just finished a 4 hour gig as Santa at Kitty Hawk Kites, and I’m still pumped up.   The best gigs do that for me, being able to interact with the kids just makes my day!  I told someone that I have done a couple of adult Christmas parties but they are just not my thing.  It is being with the children that lights my fire.  I know I am not the best looking Santa, there all others who carry the visual image much better than I.  There are also many who sound more like Santa, with a deep, “Ho, ho, ho!”    But I don’t think anyone is any better at interaction and establishing  contact with individual children than I am!  It is kind of when I come alive!

On to the important part of this post: what Santa heard from the little ones!  We had probably 200 kids over the 4 hours and they were nicely spread out so there were never more than 3 or 4 families in line and there was never a long gap without anyone coming in.  There were the usual requests for dump trucks, red, blue, and yellow in color.  Legos are still popular for building, and I did get 2 requests for clay which was a first!  Doll babies are still in demand, especially Barbies and American Girl dolls.  Though no one was close to the little girl from last year who told me she had 25 Barbies!  Many wanted stuffed animals, cats, dogs, unicorns, one horse and a Panda Bear!

Santa’s Band, which you may remember from previous years, acquired several new members today: guitar, violin, and a clarinet, which was a first for this Santa.  One little guy wanted a tractor with a back hoe and another wanted a bow and arrow AND a crossbow.  Guess he was looking to do some damage but I told him he would put his eye out just like I tell all those that want a BB gun.  A little boy 3 or 4 asked for a chainsaw so he could help his Father clean up things, I think maybe one of those toy chain saws is called for here! Today at least, there wasn’t much call for electronics; only one each, phone, tablet and computer!  However, Pokémon was in demand, several request for the new Pokémon Moon game!

Several brought letters with them and I did as I usually do and had them read the letters to me out loud so that Mom & Dad could keep the letter!  One young man told me before he read the letter that he only wanted 40 or so and after he read the letter I understood what he meant.  In third place on his list he had written “1000 baseball cards of various players from various teams from various countries and various continents”

One item I’m trying to be very wary of  is the “Hatchables or Hatchimals” They are this year’s “Cabbage Patch kids”!  A toy in high demand and short supply, so if a child requests one I tell them it is in short supply and I have the elves working 24 hours a day on them and I can’t promise that they will get them but I’ll try my best!  As I was explaining this to a wee one, I saw her Mother nodding in agreement behind her!  Had two requests for trains, one boy and one girl.

Now there were some memorable requests today that I want to share with you.  One little girl, part of a family of 4 girls, concluded her requests with, “and a Broom”  Since this was a first for me, I checked to make sure that was what she said and she was positive.  I’m not sure but maybe she needed one to sweep up after her sisters.  I had a middle schooler who wanted nothing but books; she told me she had read 146 books last year, amazing!  Then I had the little girl who wants a PINK kayak!  Another first in my book!  There was a little girl who asked for snorkeling gear because she was going on a cruise for her birthday in early January.

And finally, my current all-time favorite request came from a little girl about 5 or 6 who asked for a robot!  I know, it doesn’t seem unusual; after all there were several others who asked for remote controlled things like helicopter, cars, etc.  But when I asked her what she wanted to do with the robot, her answer took the prize.  She said she wanted to use the robot to get snacks that she couldn’t reach!  And that’s today’s report from the North Pole!

PS, I forgot about the 8 year old who asked for a passport, when I asked her why, she said she wanted to go to California!
I explained she didn't need a passport to go to California but she would need one to go to Florida!

Santa had a wonderful time today at his first outing of the year at Belk Department store.  Don't have any idea how many children I saw today but it seemed much busier that last year.  One of the great things about doing a recurring event is you will see a lot of the same children each year and it is so much fun to see how much they have grown!  There was one group on about three families that always comes together and after they have had their individual pictures, all twelve children gather at Santa's feet and get a group picture, a great tradition!  We had a slightly different setup this year that worked a little better I thought.  I was situated directly in front of the main entrance and anyone entering was walking straight at me.  I got to greet a lot more people , as opposed to just those with children!

      It seems that mermaids are big this year, two sisters both asked for mermaid tails to swim in and another little girl asked for a mermaid!  Unicorns are still in favor too and one little one asked for a live one, pink in color!  One young fellow left no doubt what he wanted as he loudly exclaimed he would like a John Deere tractor!  Several cooking set were requested also and they all promised to make Santa some goodies! 

     Of course we had our quota of children that were not going to get their picture taken with Santa for anything.  So there are a few more pictures of screaming babies on Santa's lap!  I did have one little girl who was standing away from me and seemed reluctant to come forward , so I asked her who her favorite reindeer was and after she said Rudolf, I asked her if she wanted me to give him a message from her when I returned to the North Pole and she came right over to me then!

    All in all it was a very good day in Santa's chair and I closed it out with a visit to Five Guys in full costume!