Santa Wish

Tonight we went to a holiday-kickoff celebration at the outdoor shopping center nearby. It was quite cute--they had a little parade where Santa came in on a sleigh, real reindeer, face painting, balloon makers, snow blowing machines, carolers and tree lighting. Ryder loved getting to see Santa parade in, especially since he stopped right in front of us to give his little speech. After seeing Santa come in, we went to eat dinner at a nearby restaurant. It turned out perfect because after dinner Santa was just finishing up talking to all the kids. So, after only waiting in a tiny line, Ryder got to talk to Santa. While we were in line, we were practicing what to say. He told me he was going to tell Santa, "I need a train." I suggested we might want to go with something a little more polite, like "I would like..." When he finally got to see Santa, Ryder told him, "I would really like a train, please." It was very sweet!