Visiting the REAL Santa

Every year we take the kids to see Santa. We used to go to the Mall, but we will never go back because we found where the REAL Santa has been hiding. The past couple of years we have visited Merrifield Garden Center here in Gainesville where Santa lets the kids tug at his beard and he spends a good 10 minutes with each child. He asks the kids how they have been doing at home and at school and if they have been listening to their parents and getting along with their siblings. The extraordinary thing about this Santa is that he doesn't hesitate to tell the kids why we give gifts on Christmas- because of the gift that Jesus was to us. Good grief we don't hear that enough anymore. He always gives the kids a big hug at the end and asks them to leave out some chocolate chip cookies (his favorite) and carrots for him on Christmas eve. They also get a special ribbon to tie on the tree that he will tie to his gift for them which is a nice touch. To be honest, I almost believed he was the real Santa too. This year we went with the Tolers and Mason asked for a candy cane, Gavin asked for a bike, and Cameron asked for a DS. We'll see if Santa comes through for them!