They decided to come early enough so we could all go to gymnastics together, which was great. Kaiya had quite a little cheering section in the parent's aquarium. She did really well, and for the first time hung on the rings and pulled her little feet up to touch her hands. I was so proud. Now she tries to do that on everything, especially the bars in the handicapped stalls of public restrooms (as you can imagine, not my favorite thing). She also is getting a lot closer on walking across the balance beam.
After Gymnastics, we ran some errands, had naps and then went to Babe's Chicken Dinner House, man is that place yummy. It is kinda country kitsch, so everybody has a good time. In fact one of their claims to fame is that the waitresses all do the hokey pokey down the main aisle of the restaurant, and the kids like to come out and participate with them. Well, Kaiya loves her some Hokey Pokey, so when they started doing it, I asked her if she wanted to go out there too, and she said yes, but got about 1 foot away from the table and came running back to Daddy's lap to watch.
Well, we were there at just the right time, and as we were leaving, it was Hokey Pokey time again, so this time she ran right out there and was hokey pokeying with the best of them! I of course, didn't have my camera (that could be a whole nother blog post right there) so Jamie went around and was taking pictures with his camera, but they weren't turning out so well, because it was dark, and a pretty fast hokey pokey. Kaiya was so adorable out there, that other people were taking pictures of her dancing with the waitresses, so I went over to talk to one of the ladies. I wanted to give her my email address and see if she could email me a picture. This lovely lady, named Oksana, was visiting some friends in Texas from the Ukrain, and she doesn't have an email address, and the people with her were VERY country and they "don't do so good with computers & stuff". So this nice Ukrainian lady asks for my address & says she will send the pictures to my house. I wasn't too sure what to do about this, and maybe I've been living in the south too long, but I trusted her, so I gave her my address. I half expected never to see those pictures, but low & behold, today I got them!!!!
"You put your head in, you put your head out, you put your head in, and you shake it all about..."
"You put your whole self in, you put your whole self out..."The next day, we had Christmas in the morning, and Kaiya got a "Loving Family Doll House" which she loves, and Jamie got to do his favorite Christmas pass-time, assembling things (no seriously, it's his favorite). She also got some books, including a Fancy Nancy book, which she absolutely loves.
After our early Christmas morning, we told Kaiya all about going to see Santa, and we got all ready and headed over to Bass Pro Shop, where someone had told us there was a really great Santa & free pictures.
Well, I should have done a little research before we got Kaiya all psyched up for Santa, because he is only there in the evenings on the weekdays. So we got over there, and there was no Santa to be found anywhere. Here is where I have to brag about my little girl, I think it would have been totally understandable to get all upset about not being able to see Santa, but she just rolled with it. She was sad for a minute, but never got mad or upset, and just went and looked all around Santa's Workshop, and then wanted to climb on the boats and look at the fish. I was so proud of her for not throwing a fit, I thought I was going to burst.We looked all around Bass Pro Shop and even saw a shark!
There was also a reindeer carousel set up, which only ran during Santa's hours, so we explained the situation to her, and promised we would come back after nap time, when Santa would be there & she could ride the reindeer. So basically we had to be satisfied with taking a ton of pictures in the Santa area, without the big guy.
Well, the tip about the great Santa was correct, and when we came back it was worth all the wait. There was a little bit of a line to get to see Santa, so we went and rode the reindeer carousel while we waited. Kaiya LOVED it, and we rode it over, and over, and over!
When it was finally our turn, Santa of course asked Kaiya what she would like him to bring for her, and we were all a little surprised by the answer, she said she wanted a toy reindeer and a box of candy treats! Kind of random, isn't it? I guess now, while I am writing this it makes a little more sense, she loved that reindeer carousel so much, I can understand her having reindeer on the brain. She stuck with that though, and said all Christmas season, that she wanted a toy reindeer and a box of candy treats (which she got, by the way, thanks to Buddy & Grandma).
The Santa was awesome too, and the nice thing about going someplace where you get a free Santa picture, is that they didn't care if we took pictures with our own camera! It was the best!
After we saw Santa, of course Kaiya wanted to ride the carousel again, and again, and again (thank goodness it was free!).
Then after she rode the reindeer, she needed to ride in Santa's sleigh. She even got it stolen out from underneath her by another kid, but she waited so patiently, and was excited when she finally got to ride in it.
It was great seeing Mimi & Papaw, and we can't wait to visit them again in a few months, hopefully in Florida, and cross all your fingers and toes, maybe we will be able to visit our good friend Mickey Mouse while we are there too!
