Back to the North Pole

Madison braved the busy shopping day with Mommy and her grandparents, as they had peace at Goodwill. It wasn't the Goodwill mentioned in the Bible around Christmastime. It was, in fact, the traditional pilgrimage to the Goodwill store, where they found all sorts of good stuff, including a copy of the classic Christmas movie, "Santa Claus vs. The Martians." Oh, yes! It isn't Christmas until you've seen that one!

We had plans to go to Lake Lanier Magical Nights of Lights tonight. Daddy went out to get a coupon real quick from Publix, when he looked at the fine print and realized that on weekends, it costs a whopping

$60 PLUS TAX TO GET IN!!

That is not a typo. I am not making that up. That's for a car, and not a van. Vans cost $90! On weekends, it costs nearly as much as it costs to get into the Magic Kingdom. And this is just to drive around and look at lights. You'd think they'd have thought about this whole "recession thing" and strived a little harder to spread some Christmas cheer!

During the week, the price drops to a mere $35, so we'll try it on Monday or Tuesday. I'll fill you in then on exactly what it is that makes this such a worthy investment. We have no choice - we have to go, because by gum, we're going to show Madison lights this year!

Tonight, however, we found ourselves in a quandary, and I don't use that word lightly. Madison was all dressed up, but we had no place to go! Fortunately, there were cooler heads amongst us, and we decided to make a quick trip to Lakeshore Mall.

There we found one of the best deals in Hall County: the carousel. For just a dollar, Grandma rode around with Madison, and Daddy got to ride with Madison too. It's a long ride, and Madison was very particular about picking the right horse each time. Afterwards, we walked down the mall a bit dressed in holiday cheer, as the shoppers passed by with their treasures. We could only keep our destination a secret for so long though!

With a loud giggle, Madison saw Santa! She ran up to the line and had to wait (for her what seemed like an eternity). When it was her time to step forward, she did the funniest thing: she put both hands on top of her head and just squealed! Then she ran up to him and jumped on his lap!

Daddy didn't have his camera, but he did have a cell phone. The elf that helped Santa out at the mall was very nice - he let Daddy snap a few photos with Madison on Santa's knee, and Santa spent quite some time talking to her (there was no one behind us). Santa gave her some candy, a sticker, and a stop sign that said "SANTA PLEASE STOP HERE."

Her day was made. Santa is her hero! And to think, for her it was an incredible night. So much fun, and it only cost us two dollars for the carousel!