Friday, November 30, 2018

Well, wasn't that interesting. Started the evening off by going to the wrong Beach Club sat through a time out for rain in Manteo and had about 75+ kids on my lap to end the evening. It seems there are more than one Beach Club on the beach road. After I got that straightened out I went to the Festival of Trees! There were some gorgeous trees there that will be up for auction tomorrow! Saw several children and gave them all gift bags from Hotline, the sponsor of the event!
Then it was off to Manteo, traffic had slackened off by 6:30 because I had reports earlier it was backed up to Lone Cedar! Of course Santa had to talk his way past the police barricade but I was in full regalia so that was not a problem. Of course there were a bunch of kids standing in my reserved place but there was another a couple of places back and I was there in place by 6:40. Then about halfway through the lineup it started to rain! Well since it was only one small cloud and moving fast, the show was halted for 10 minutes, the crowd stayed and we cut to the end of the show which was Santa's big entrance while all the kids were singing! After the show, Santa hustled over to Magnolia Pavilion to hear what the kids wanted and let them get a picture with Santa. Lot's and lot's of kids and it was a constant pressure but we got through it! Every child had their picture taken and was given a candy cane after they told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Fit Bits were popular to night and smart watches, with a few baby dolls and Barbies thrown in for good measure. Did have one call for a Rapunzel doll. Pokémon cards were called for an d Nerf guns, asked one little girl who she was going to shoot and she replied, "My Mom!" Had several familiar faces on my knee tonight, including one little one from church who told me she wanted a purple alligator for Christmas, another little girl wanted a unicorn she could ride and one other wanted a real horse she had been working with for a long time! Also our preacher and his family came to see Santa! And that's it for tonight, tomorrow is a busy day!

Saturday, Nov. 24th at Kitty Hawk Kites & Blue Water Nov. 25

Welcome back faithful reader to the second installment of what happened with Santa last weekend. I'm going to start with show and tell, so y'all are going to have to wait to hear about the boy who wanted coal! Here's evidence that we did take pictures of some large groups Saturday! And I'm including some samples of the pictures I was lucky enough to receive and the lists I have gotten, with the names removed, of course!

To continue the tale of the weekend, after leaving the wonderful folks at Southern Crossing where photos were taken by the Journalism classes from FFHS, Santa went back to Kitty Hawk Kites where a nice INDOOR area had been set by the rock wall! "The weather outside was frightful!" One of the first visitor Santa had was a friend from Alabama Shakespeare Festival and her two sons! An early request was for a flying owl! But one young man put in a special request for toys for all the sick kids. He certainly has the Christmas spirit!
Then there was the boy who asked for coal, he explained to me that he saw a video where all you had to do was take a piece of coal, rub it with peanut butter, put it in with ice and it turns into a diamond. Well, maybe all those on the naughty list have a chance to get something after all! BTW, There is no age limit for Santa's lap: There were several requests for unicorns, probably because there was a stuffed 3' tall one right next to where I was sitting. One little one wanted a big unicorn, "Bigger than you" she said! And another little girl asked for a remote control unicorn!
Sunday Santa was at Blue Water Grill for brunch with several families present! Several of the pictures I have included came from these young artists. Among their requests were a bearded dragon, a bird, maybe a parrot but then I explained how long parrots can live! Someone wanted goalie pants and another wanted a REAL blow dart!
I have to close with some advice I got from a three year old Sunday: "Do not take the elevator because you will get stuck and die in it!"
This week Santa will be at the Hotline Festival of Trees followed by the tree lighting in downtown Manteo on Friday.
Saturday will find Santa riding a fire truck in the Manteo Parade followed by Winter wonderland at MES, then off to Southern Crossing til 6pm (A full Day!)
Sunday starts with Breakfast with Santa at The Dunes sponsored by Village Realty , Then Blue Water again followed by Monkey Business from 4 to 7!
PS: I took the elevator anyway because I don't do stairs if I don't have to! And I lived!

5

Santa at Southern Crossing November 24th, 2018

Wow, I forgot just how exhausting this time of year gets! Of course today, in addition to a Santa appearance I went to church and Sunday School, wash, dried and sorted 4 loads of laundry, sewed a button on one Santa suit, which meant I needed to reinforce the other buttons so they wouldn't fall off in the middle of a gig, put up some Christmas lights and wreaths and now I am sitting down to write how the last few Santa appearances went.

This entry may have two parts, if I fall asleep writing! I am weary, I find! Yesterday Santa started with a bang at Southern Crossing, we had someone in the place constantly from 10 until 11:30. I'm not sure how many it was but There were several families that I knew and that always makes it more fun! Had a couple of extended families and that brought new meaning to herding cats in a thunderstorm. All in all it was a great time and we ended up with some great pictures. Had one friend who was there with her two little ones and I think she maybe going to have a Christmas baby. She asked me to explain Santa have to might visit their house on a night other than Christmas Eve! Santa is keeping his fingers crossed for them!

Santa received several very special pictures which I will share in a later post and a delicious muffin prepared by one young friend and taste tested by her sister! I also have a sampling of Christmas lists to share with all y'all! There was one puppy in for a picture, it was a Golden/doodle, a breed I'm not familiar with, but cute as a bug! One of the first requests I got was for a fake mustache, then there was the young fellow that wants a hot tub! Legos are still very popular as are LOL dolls and Nintendo Switch! But I had one request for a tree house and another a drill set. Then someone wanted a golf set, pants, shoes and glove! One of the more unusual combinations was the little guy that wanted workout shorts, cashmere hoodie and a drill set!  There was one who wanted a backscratcher. You know sometimes the younger ones get right to the point: one little guy wanted a ball! Baseball, football, basketball, didn’t matter, he just wanted a ball! Another wanted a TRAIN, all caps. There was also a request for "a car with a helicopter on top that shoots water in the bathtub" Sounds like fun at bath time, at least he's in the tub! Then there was the one who wanted a boat powered by a rocket and a zoomer puppy!

Well that's as far as I'm going tonight, more to follow tomorrow when I'll tell you about the boy who wants coal! But first I have to close with this thought: I have frequently said I have the best job in the world at this time of year and I want to TRY to explain what I mean when I say that. I am lucky enough to experience the love of all these wonderful children and I try to help them realize in some small way that we all love them too and this season is all about love!

And that's the story from Santa's lap for tonight!

November 23, 2018

Santa at Kitty Hawk Kites November 23, 2018

Just back from spending 4 great hours at Kitty Hawk kites dressed in the big red suit. We had more children than I've ever had there. We had a line of 4 to 6+ families starting at 10 that was there until 12:30 and after that there was steady traffic with never a time longer than 2 minutes without someone who wanted to see Santa. Did a couple of pictures with dogs today, which always fun for me! Of course one of the challenges when you have a line is to keep from rushing the child you are with because others are waiting. My philosophy, and I apologize if I have said this before, but it is worth repeating. I feel when I have a child before me, it is my mission to let them know they are the most important person in the world to me, because they are! And you don't rush that! So I didn't and it all worked out. The weather was cool this afternoon, I wore an extra layer underneath for the first time in North Carolina. Usually I'm battling 70 degree temps and I probably will again before Christmas.

The day started off with a number of refusals, they seem to run in clusters as one child sees the one ahead in line fussing then they will do the same. Once again Legos were one of the most requested items, closely followed by Barbie's today anyway. I have made it a practice to ask which Barbie they want and how many they have. That way the parents get a little more info on the situation. When I asked one little girl how many Barbies she had, she told me that she had 100! We joked that after she got the one this one she could paint black spots on them and have Dalmatians. There were also requests for the generic Baby Doll and LOL dolls were popular today also. Had a few requests for American Girl Dolls and one little one asked for an American BOY Doll!

There were some requests for animals, alive and stuffed, like dogs and cats and one each bird, and a Horse! By far the most unusual request was a girl that asked for a FROG! I loved the look on Mom and Dad's faces on that one!

Computers, laptops, tablets and phones were very popular also. One little guy wanted an iPhone X and an iPhone 5. I asked if he was going to put a phone to each ear. As usual, I explained that Mom and Dad had to OK any phone requests, since they end up paying for it.

Slime was also a request of several youngsters, rainbow and purple and other colors! Because I had read something about there being dangerous stuff to ingest in slime and did tell the first one to ask for it, that she had to be sure not to eat it. I got such a look from her and she said "Silly, Slime is not for eating!" So I didn't add that warning again!

Then there were the requests for hoverboards, scooters, skateboards, surfboards under various names, longboard, Pennyboard, etc. With skateboards I always mention the need for a helmet also!

Under the unusual category, I was asked, for the first time ever, I think, what I wanted for Christmas. I explained after a long Christmas Eve all I wanted on Christmas was a nice cup of hot chocolate and a place to put my feet up!

Santa had several requests for Transformers, especially BumbleBee! One young man asked for a trailer for his Gator and after a moments thought he said he needed a hitch also! Another fellow asked for rock climbing shoes, and a little girl asked for a "real" guitar. Two brothers asked for a guitar and a drum set and I told Dad I would bring him plenty of ear plugs! An usually specific request was a little guy who wants "a skeleton that has a removable pumpkin head and also has a magic bow and arrow"

But I also had a first, a young lady asked me for something that I had never had requested! She wanted . . wait for it . . . a TYPEWRITER!

And that's the latest from Santa's lap!

PS: I don't know how but I forgot that today I had two separate people ask for world peace, one about 9, the other about 40 years old. A sign of the times, I guess!

Santa at Belk, November 10, 2018

November 12, 2018

Well, last Saturday was Santa's first appearance of 2018.  Belk always has a big sale over Veteran's Day and has Santa come to visit giving folks time to get pictures for their Christmas cards.

       It was a relaxing day with plenty of time to chat with the children, which was nice!  The very first wish by a lovely young lady was for a Christmas dress and some books.  There were a few requests for baby dolls and tractors were big Saturday!  One little girl wanted a telescope so she could look at the stars!  Another asked for a standup nutcracker because she had seen the movie.  Then there was the little guy that wanted a remote control...upon questioning him a bit I found out that he wanted a remote controlled robot... that he could then use to clean his room!

     Guns were also big this year, one young fellow wanted TONS of Nerf guns that he could use on his older brother!  One of the last little guys I had, asked for a gun that shoots fire and I can only hope it wasn't to use on his older brother!  And that's the latest from Santa's lap!