Went out to Jacksonville to see Santa (something we do every year) and have been dying to get these shots edited because I love them so much.
Started off the morning at my new favorite breakfast place in Medford, The Old Farmhouse (really good spinach omelets).
And then we went out to Jacksonville only to find out that Santa wasn't scheduled to be there until 1pm. We decided to head back to the new, old house for awhile but I wanted to stop at the Jacksonville Museum to get some pictures first.
Thanks for the great smile Ross.
I can't remember what he said now but whatever it was, I wasn't too thrilled by it (and he knew it).
Love this one.
Funny.
And then we headed back to the new, old house to do some work until Santa got to Jacksonville.
And then we headed back out to Jacksonville only to find out that I had left my camera battery in the charger at the new, old house (so we had to drive all the way back to get it).
And then we finally made it to Jacksonville.
And we saw Santa.
Annie has always been scared to death of Santa but this year, Santa was all she had talked about for weeks.
When she sat on his lap she said "Santa, can you bring me some babies?" And when we were talking about it later she said "Santa didn't even bite me."
Cole wasn't too keen on Santa this year so he didn't make it in the picture (on our way out the door, he got scared and decided he wasn't willing to take the risk of not telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas though).
And Santa gave Annie her very own candycane (something she's never had before).
And then we went on a horse-drawn buggy (I was complaining at Cali because she turns the other way every time she sees me with the camera - so this is what she does now instead).
And then we got to pet the horses (one of those horses sneezed on Courtney Lee last year).
And then we had hot cider and roasted chestnuts (Josh had an allergic reaction to the chestnuts last year but decided to try them again this year just to make sure that he really is allergic to them...yes, he is indeed allergic to chestnuts).
And at the risk of painting the picture of a perfect, joyous family, please know that my kids (in particular, Cole & Courtney) were driving me crazy with their whining and pouting and disinterest in the whole day.
Does anyone else ever feel like they are raising ungrateful, little pouty stinks of children, or is it just me?
And then we took all the ingrates to dinner at mine and Courtney Lee's favorite spot, Bella.
And here's links to our trips to Jacksonville at Christmastime over the last couple of years: 2007, 2006 and 2005 (only the last two pictures from that post are from Jacksonville).