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!