James, clearly very excited
Owen, too sleepy to care
The view from the line.
First up, Sophie. She so desperately wanted to tell Santa what she wanted—a butterfly net. And up until we got to the front of the line, she was determined, and excited, to sit on his lap. But when the time came, she froze. So I carried her up there. Although a little fuzzy, I love this picture. In it, she’s talking to Santa. She’s telling him what she wanted—a butterfly net. But her body language proves just how terrified she was to be up close and personal with the man in red.
Still, this is a (small) improvement from 2008. And 2009.
The boys handled the experience surprisingly well.
“Alas! How dreary would be the world if there was no Santa Claus! … There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.” —Francis P. Church