Santa Visit and Downtown Bentonville

We had a great time visiting with Santa today at Daddy's work. Each year Sam's Club invites the families to visit with Santa. You pre-register and fill out a short survey about your child and then when it's your turn for a visit- Santa knows all about your kids and asks them lots of personal questions and calls them by name when they walk into see him. It's amazing! It makes it so very real for the kids and so the interactions are so genuine. 

Bailey got to see Santa first this year and they talked for quite a while. He asked her how kindergarten was going. He asked about our elves- Buddy and Sparkle. He asked her about dance class and they chatted for awhile. Then Bailey asked him to bring her a princess dollhouse and a "science purse". We don't really know what a science purse is, but hopefully Santa can deliver.  

Next, Tucker had a turn to chat with the big man. He was surprisingly friendly with him and when Santa asked him what he wanted Tuck told him "blue Thomas train". Pretty cute. 

Tanner spoke with Santa last and they had a pretty good conversation. You can see, in the pics below, Tanner thinking hard about what he wanted for Christmas. Santa also asked him how first grade was going at Sugar Creek. He asked about which transformers were his favorite and he asked about whether or not Tanner was being a good big brother. It was pretty cute. Tanner asked for a triple transforming Optimus Prime. Very specific! 

All-in-all, it was a great Santa visit and the kids are very excited for Christmas now. (Assuming they are well behaved for the next three weeks, Santa should be able to make all their dreams come true). They really didn't ask for anything extravagant, which makes shopping so much less stressful. 

After visiting Santa, we drove downtown and decided to go ahead and mail our letters to Santa- just to be sure he remembered what the kids wanted. I love this tradition. The kids mail their little letters and then they each get a hand written, personalized letter back from Santa. 

Tuck wasn't thrilled when he couldn't get his letter back after he dropped it in the slot. He kept searching for it. 

Tanner- the old pro. He wrote his own letter this year. 

Bailey also wrote her own letter this year. She's getting so big. My big kindergarten girl!

Then we stopped by Santa's sleigh to look at all the lights around downtown.
I love these cute kiddos. I love this time of year and I'm excited to see what surprises the season holds for us.